More on the tumultuous late Princess Diana wedding to King Charles was revealed.
Secret letters from the Princess of Wales sent to friends detailing her ‘ugly’ divorce from King Charles reveal how painful the split was.
Thirty-two letters written to his pals Susie and Tarek Kassem are now up for auction, according to the shimmer. The money will be donated to various charities as Diana, who deceased in 1997, had supported during his lifetime.
The Kassems put the memos, estimated at around $111,000, under the hammer on February 16 with Lay’s Auctioneers of Cornwall.
One of the notes to be sold is dated April 28, 1996 and describes Diana’s feelings during her difficult relationship with 74-year-old Charles.
“I am going through a very difficult time and the pressure is serious and coming from all sides,” she wrote. “Sometimes it’s too hard to hold your head up high and today I’m on my knees and just can’t wait for this divorce to happen because the possible cost is huge.”
Diana had announced just two months before that she had accepted Prince Charles’ divorce petition. Their split was finalized in August 1996.
Elsewhere in her letters, she also claimed that her phone was tapped, a theory presented in a Netflix’s “The Crown” Season 5 Episode in which Diana, portrayed by Elizabeth Debicki, thinks the royal family is trying to hurt her and is worried that others are listening in on her phone calls.
On May 20, 1996, Diana wrote to Susie: “As I don’t have a cell phone it is difficult to discuss personal issues as my lines here are constantly recorded and transmitted.”
“If I had known a year ago what I would have been through going through this divorce, I would never have consented. It’s hopeless and ugly,” the note continues.
In a message written on December 19, 1995 – the day after Queen Elizabeth told Charles and Diana to divorce – Diana explained how much she enjoyed being around the Kassems: “I may have been described as a butterfly but I don’t want to fly away from this loving family.
“I’m immensely touched by how protective you both are of me,” Diana added. “I’m not used to that. [I] never had so much love and support from a married team before.
“Susie and Tarek feel extremely privileged to have had the opportunity to know the princess so closely,” the auction house said. “Ownership of these harrowing documents is a responsibility the Kassems do not wish to pass on to their children or grandchildren. The Kassems would like to give others the opportunity to acquire a ‘souvenir’ of the princess, and in doing so, support causes close to her heart.
Mimi Connell-Lay of Lay’s Auctioneers said to the mirror that many of the letters “are emotionally raw and downright astonishing”.
“It’s a really interesting collection of letters from Princess Diana,” she said. “She wrote extensively about what was going on in her life at the time, particularly her divorce, and repeatedly mentioned that she didn’t have the support of the royal family.”
Connell-Lay noted that Diana confided in Kassem during the worst time of her life.
“Susie met Diana at the Royal Brompton Hospital and they obviously clicked straight away, Diana says so in one of her letters,” she noted. “They had a very strong bond and what is clear is how much Diana appreciated their friendship, support and guidance at a time of great emotional turmoil for her.”