Charles’ answer to Diana’s tantrum? Another martini!
DURING the later stages of his marriage to Princess Diana, Charles’s temper was sometimes sorely tried.
On one particular night in April 1988, they were to attend a state banquet held in honour of King Olav V of Norway. However, it wasn’t yet time for them to leave Kensington Palace.
Inspector Ken Wharfe, overseeing the couple’s security, noticed that Diana was in an impatient mood, ‘tutting loudly and tapping her feet’.
Charles, for his part, was feeling extremely relaxed. He knew that on state occasions, members of the Royal Family arrive at their destination in reverse order of rank.
‘It may sound a little absurd,’ Wharfe told me, ‘but state banquets are when the business of royalty becomes very serious indeed. Diana did not quite see it like that. As far as she was concerned, a state banquet was just an irritation.’
She asked Wharfe if she could head off early. The Scotland Yard officer explained that she couldn’t yet leave because Princess Anne had got stuck in traffic. Diana snapped back: ‘Ken, I know all about their bloody orders . . . I want to go now.’
At this point, Charles appeared, tugging on his cuffs in a slightly nervous manner. He clearly sensed an impending tantrum from his wife. ‘Are we ready to go, Ken?’ he asked. There was a stony silence as the policeman again said it was not their slot yet.
‘Have I got time for another martini, then?’ the Prince asked politely. Wharfe, finding the situation and the Prince amusing, did his best ot to laugh. It struck him as all rather absurd. The frost emanating from Diana became icier towards her policeman.
‘Is anything the matter?’ the Prince asked, not directing his question to anyone in particular. Diana was spoiling for a fight and he sensed it.
‘Well, Charles, there is, actually. I want to go now. I don’t want to hang around here. Why can’t we go now?’
‘Diana,’ Charles replied reasonably, ‘you know the system. We have to go at the set time, so that we arrive just before Her Majesty.’
He took a measured step back as though preparing himself for an onslaught. Diana turned on him.
‘But Charles, why can’t you go on your own? I can get there earlier. Nobody will worry about me,’ she said.
Of course, she knew that if she turned up without her husband, the waiting media would plaster it all over the front pages, speculating, quite rightly, that the Prince and Princess of Wales had had yet another row.
When Charles pointed this out to her, however, she became even more frustrated. Pacing like a caged animal, Diana shouted: ‘Charles, I have really had enough of this. I’m off.’
‘No, Diana, we really have to wait,’ he insisted. Whereupon he ordered another martini from butler Harold Brown and retreated to his study. Wharfe let out a little chortle.
‘Do you find my husband funny, Ken?’ Diana snapped. ‘Well, do you?’
Wharfe replied: ‘Well, actually, I do, ma’am. I think he has a great sense of humour. It’s not too far removed from my own.’
Clearly exasperated, Diana retorted curtly: ‘So, what kind of humour is that?’ For the rest of that night she said not one word to Wharfe.
It was an amusing incident, but also a telling one. It demonstrated the extent to which the royal relationship had soured and how difficult it could be for anyone caught in the crossfire.