The Real Reason Queen Elizabeth Ordered Princess Diana to Divorce Prince Charles
Despite their differences (and infamous affairs) Princess Diana planned to stay married to Princes Charles for the rest of her life. But, when the queen requested the late princess to divorce her son, something changed. Why did Queen Elizabeth want to split up the Prince and Princess of Wales? Find out ahead.
Did Princess Diana want to divorce Prince Charles?
During their marriage, Princess Diana struggled with her royal life and marriage to the future King of England. Yet, through it all, she still had
Although the media coverage surrounding her broken marriage caused a lot of stress, Princess Diana wanted to work things out with Prince Charles. “Given the choice, she would have stayed and tried to make a happy marriage,” Princess Diana’s personal trainer, Jeni Rivett, once revealed. “She loved Charles … she was sad about it. She wanted to be a loving wife.” But being a loving wife wasn’t the only thing that Diana was willing to fight for.
As a child of divorce herself, Princess Diana knew how difficult parents splitting up can be. And for that reason, she was willing to do whatever possible to stay married to Prince Charles for the sake of their sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. Diana allegedly feared they would blame themselves for their parents’ split. She felt the repercussions of divorce were far worse than staying with her unfaithful partner.
Why did Queen Elizabeth order them to divorce?
As the drama progressed, Prince Charles and Princess Diana agreed to separate but remained legally married. Then, Princess Diana gave a television interview that would change it all. In 1995, the late Princess of Wales went on air and explained that she did not want to divorce her husband, no matter what. But, when she dropped her now-famous line, “Well, there were three of us in the marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” she unknowingly sealed her fate.
Queen Elizabeth got word of the interview and, needless to say, was appalled at her daughter-in-law’s words. Her Majesty wrote Princess Diana and Prince Charles shortly after. She strongly advised them to divorce so that they could finally be “done with it.” Understandably, the queen was upset that her family’s business had been blasted on television and was at her witts end.
The queen wrote the letter with the help of the Prime Minister and Archbishop of Canterbury. Princess Diana was ultimately devastated that someone else made the decision for her.
Prince Charle and Princess Diana’s divorce
Following the letter, Prince Charles and Princess Diana decided to take Queen Elizabeth’s strong advice. They officially divorced on August 28, 1996. Princess Diana tragically died in a car accident just one year later, causing more upset to the royal family (and anger toward Prince Charles’s actions in the eyes of the public).
Not long after, Prince Charles made his relationship with his long-time lover, Camilla Parker Bowles, public. The two married in 2005.
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