A newly surfaced letter written by Princess Diana to a school friend shortly after her 1981 royal wedding paints a picture of a happy honeymoon with then-Prince Charles. However, years later, the late Princess of Wales revealed that the reality behind the scenes was far more painful, describing herself as consumed by Charles’ relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles.Following their lavish wedding in July 1981, Charles and Diana embarked on a 12-day Mediterranean honeymoon aboard the royal yacht Britannia. In the recently resurfaced letter, which sold at auction for about $5,330 in July, Diana reportedly described the trip as “blissful.”But in recordings made for biographer Andrew Morton for his 1992 book, Diana: Her True Story, she offered a starkly different account.
‘At night, I dreamt of Camilla the whole time’
Recalling the honeymoon, Diana admitted that thoughts of Camilla overshadowed what should have been one of the happiest periods of her life.“At night, I dreamt of Camilla the whole time,” Diana said. “I was obsessed by Camilla totally.”According to Diana, her concerns had begun even before the wedding after she discovered a “goodbye” bracelet Charles intended to give Camilla.During the honeymoon, she also claimed that two photographs of Camilla fell out of Charles’ diary while they were comparing schedules.
The cufflinks that sparked an argument
Speaking to PEOPLE, royal biographer Catherine Mayer said another incident deeply affected Diana.According to Mayer, Camilla had gifted Charles a personalised pair of cufflinks, something Diana knew about. Charles later wore the cufflinks during their honeymoon, leading to a confrontation.Recalling the moment, Diana told Morton, “Cufflinks arrive on his wrists — two ‘C’s entwined like the Chanel ‘C’s. Got it in one; knew exactly. ‘Camilla gave you those, didn’t she?'”She said Charles replied, “‘Yes, so what’s wrong? They’re a present from a friend.’ And, boy, did we have a row.”
Charles described marriage as ‘very jolly’
While Diana privately struggled, Charles appeared to present a different picture in a letter written during the honeymoon.“Marriage is very jolly,” he wrote, before describing how Diana socialised with the crew while he spent much of his time reading.“Diana dashes about chatting up all the sailors and the cooks in the galley etc. while I remain hermit-like on the veranda deck, sunk with pure joy into one of Laurens van der Post’s books,” Charles wrote.Following the cruise, the couple travelled to Balmoral in Scotland to spend time with the royal family. When asked by reporters about married life, Diana smiled and said she would “highly recommend” it.
Diana later revealed struggle with bulimia
Behind the public smiles, Diana later revealed she was battling loneliness, insecurity and bulimia during the honeymoon.Speaking during her landmark 1995 BBC Panorama interview, she described bulimia as “a secret disease” that she had struggled with for years.“It was a symptom of what was going on in my marriage. I was crying out for help but giving the wrong signals, and people were using my bulimia as a coat on a hanger. They decided that was the problem: Diana was unstable,” she said.She continued, “The cause was the situation where my husband and I had to keep everything together because we didn’t want to disappoint the public, and yet obviously there was a lot of anxiety going on within our four walls.”
Marriage ended in separation and divorce
Charles and Diana separated in 1992 before finalising their divorce in 1996. Both later acknowledged relationships outside their marriage, including Charles’ renewed romance with Camilla, whom he married in 2005.Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997.Reflecting on the royal marriage, biographer Catherine Mayer said it was troubled from the very beginning.“The thing that is so striking about Charles and Diana is they got married understanding almost nothing of each other — or what they were doing to themselves,” she said.
