Prince Charles Was Furious With Princess Diana for Fainting in Public, Said She ‘Could Have Passed Out Quietly Somewhere Else’
On the outside, Prince Charles and Princess Diana seemed to have the perfect fairytale romance. Yet behind closed doors, both partners were miserable. Trapped in a loveless marriage, all Diana wanted was the proper care and respect that a husband usually provides for his wife.
Sadly, she seldom received affection from Prince Charles.
One of the most prominent examples of this was when the princess fainted in public from ill-health. Instead of being concerned for Diana’s condition, Charles was furious. It became evident that the Prince of Wales seemed to care more about their public image than his wife’s well-being.
What caused Princess Diana to faint?
Unfortunately, several factors led to Diana collapsing in public. Not only was the princess overly exhausted from being on her feet all day long, but she was also was dealing with an eating disorder.
According to her biography by Andrew Morton, In Her Own Words, Diana was bulimic. Although she never had issues with it before, all that changed after Prince Charles made a nasty comment about her weight.
“I knew the bulimia started the week after we got engaged,” Diana revealed in her tell-all book. “My husband put his hand on my waistline and said: ‘Oh, a bit chubby here, aren’t we?’ and that triggered off something in me- and the Camilla thing, I was desperate, desperate.”
The lack of nutrients from her eating disorder, along with her lack of sleep, ultimately caused her to collapse.
Princess Diana fainted, and Prince Charles got mad at her for it
“It was at the Expo in Canada where I passed out,” she revealed in Morton’s tell-all book. “I remember I had never fainted before in my life. We’d been walking around for four hours, we hadn’t had any food, and presumably, I hadn’t eaten for days beforehand. When I say that, I mean food staying down. I remember walking around, feeling really ghastly. I didn’t dare tell anyone because I thought they’d think I was whining.”
In fact, Diana made a point not to complain as often as possible with the royal family because she knew they already considered her a “problem.”
Diana continues in her book, saying, “My husband told me off” (for fainting in public.) “He said I could have passed out quietly somewhere else, behind a door. It was all very embarrassing. My argument was I didn’t know anything about fainting.”
Diana Spencer wanted to rest in bed after collapsing, but Prince Charles insisted she go out
Diana desperately pleaded with her husband, saying that she needed to spend the night in bed to get some much needed rest.
But Charles refused. He said, “She must go out tonight. Otherwise, there’s going to be a sense of terrific drama, and they are going to think there’s something awfully wrong with her.”
Diana claims that there was something “awfully wrong” with her, but she was “too immature” to voice it. As a result of not getting the proper care that she needed, she said, “I just felt miserable.”
How to get help: In the U.S. call the National Eating Disorders Association helpline at 1-800-931-2237.
