Troubled Times

For the Prince of Wales, the anniversary of his former wife’s death was always likely to be a troubling time.

His sons were naturally determined to pay tribute to their late mother, who died in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997. Prince William explained, ‘Harry and I feel very strongly that we want to celebrate her life…’

But it was noticeable that, while they spoke in glowing terms of Diana on their ITV documentary, Our Mother: Her Life And Legacy, their father had been seemingly airbrushed from the programme altogether. They never mentioned him directly and instead spoke about how they turned to each other when struggling with overwhelming grief.

Days later, Diana and Charles’ tortured marriage was laid bare by the princess herself, during Channel 4’s Diana: In Her Own Words documentary.

The broadcaster had ignored pleas by some quarters not to air the controversial tapes, made as she spoke to speech coach Peter Settelen from 1992-93.

Many believe the programme was a ‘bruising blow’ for Charles and his second wife. Since his marriage to Camilla in 2005, Prince Charles – and his PR team – have tried hard to rebuild Camilla’s reputation. Once dubbed the ‘most hated woman in Britain’, many felt in recent years the Duchess of Cornwall had turned things around, becoming close to the Queen and even winning grudging support from the public.