Charles: I tried my best with ‘disturbed’ Di
He hired shrink for her, but ended up on the couch himself
PRINCE Charles spent 14 years in psychotherapy because of Diana’s emotional instability, a new book claims.
Charles asked a top shrink to visit her after she broke down during their honeymoon.
But he ended up having regular sessions on the London psychiatrist’s couch himself, says author Sally Bedell Smith.
Her claims were backed by a royal source yesterday as longawaited proof of how Charles battled to help troubled Di and save their marriage.
The source said: “At the very least this revelation shows Charles tried hard to make things work in his marriage.
“It’s more than he was given credit for at the time, or since.”
At the height of the so-called War of the Waleses in the 1990s, Charles was portrayed as an uncaring adulterer and Princess Diana the victim.
But author and historian Bedell Smith says Diana’s demons emerged on their 1981 Balmoral honeymoon. Worried Charles asked his mentor, Laurence van der Post, for advice and he recommended eminent psychiatrist Dr Alan Mcglashan. The princess saw him only eight times, but Charles continued to have therapy until the mid-90s.
Friends of the couple told Bedell Smith of the “extreme symptoms of Diana’s mental instability” like bulimia, selfharm, and suicide attempts.
Charles’ cousin, Pamela Hicks, said Di raged at Charles when he knelt by his bed to pray and would “hit him over the head and keep on with the row while he was praying”.
The book – Prince Charles: The Passions And Paradoxes Of An Improbable Life – also claims Charles tried to halt the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 “to honour Ramadan”.
Yesterday, Charles and wife Camilla continued their six-day tour of Italy. He watched military police stage a hostage rescue display and she met families of Mafia murder victims in Naples. The couple have not reacted to the latest revelations about the marriage Diana once claimed had “three people in it”.
Another source said: “It’s a sensitive subject as The Princess’s memory is still cherished by so many.
“It is all such a long time ago. Charles went through painful times but he is in a happier place now.”
rachael.bletchly@trinitymirror.com
Princess would hit him over head as he knelt by bed praying
AUTHOR’S SOURCE ON DI’S RAGES AT CHARLES