Princess Diana Once Said King Charles Never Gave Her Credit for Growth as a Royal: ‘My Goodness, I’ve Had to Grow’
At the end of her marriage, Princess Diana revealed King Charles III didn’t give her “any credit for growth.”
The then-Princess of Wales shared feelings that no one ever acknowledged when she did something well. At the same time, she felt like a “ton of bricks” came down on her whenever she inevitably “tripped up.”
Diana’s children and others took issue with the BBC for their journalist’s methods in obtaining that revealing interview. The outlet eventually apologized and paid “substantial damages” to one of the parties involved. However, it was too late for Diana to take anything back. And she shared things she’d never publicly opened up about.
BBC paid a former nanny ‘substantial damages’ for ‘false and malicious’ claims made in efforts to interview Princess Diana
In 1995, Diana sat for an exclusive interview with the BBC, later transcribed by PBS. And she opened up about her experiences with the royal family. Specifically, she talked about living with bulimia, tendencies toward self-harm, and experiencing postpartum depression without emotional support.
“When no one listens to you, or you feel no one’s listening to you, all sorts of things start to happen,” she shared.
Prince William and Prince Harry later condemned the outlet for the tactics used to obtain that candid interview. And they received a public apology.
Their former nanny, Alexandra Pettifer, formerly Tiggy Legge-Bourke, also received “substantial damages” for “false and malicious” claims (per NBC News). Pettifer was once accused of having an affair with Charles, and her lawyer argued it had “serious personal consequences for all concerned.”
BBC director-general Tim Davie said in 2022, “I would like to take this opportunity to apologize publicly to [Pettifer], to the Prince of Wales, and to the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex, for the way in which Princess Diana was deceived and the subsequent impact on all their lives.”
Princess Diana felt the royal family didn’t give her ‘any credit for growth’
During that controversial interview, Diana also opened up to Bashir about her marriage to Charles. She gave up some of her passions to join the royal family but always felt like an outsider. When asked what Charles thought of her interests, she replied, “Well, I don’t think I was allowed to have any.”
“I think that I’ve always been the 18-year-old girl he got engaged to, so I don’t think I’ve been given any credit for growth,” she added. “And, my goodness, I’ve had to grow.”
She disclosed feelings that “anything good [she] ever did nobody ever said a thing, never said, ‘well done,’ or ‘was it OK?'”
“But if I tripped up, which invariably I did, because I was new at the game, a ton of bricks came down on me,” she concluded.
Royal duties confused Princess Diana until she found her calling
Diana also revealed to the BBC that she was “very confused” about where to focus her duties. She once said that feeling unloved is a “disease” experienced worldwide, and she zeroed in on that problem, for one.
“… I found myself being more and more involved with people who were rejected by society — with, I’d say, drug addicts, alcoholism, battered this, battered that — and I found an affinity there,” she explained.
“And I respected very much the honesty I found on that level with people I met, because in hospices, for instance, when people are dying they’re much more open and more vulnerable, and much more real than other people,” she added. “And I appreciated that.”
Shortly after that 1995 interview aired, Queen Elizabeth II encouraged the divorce of Diana and Charles. And the press and paparazzi continued to hound the princess until she died in 1997.
How to get help: To connect with mental health resources near you, visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) website.
How to get help: In the U.S. call the National Eating Disorders Association helpline at 1-800-931-2237.
