Princess Diana and Prince Charles Showed "Hatred That Radiated" During Their Trip to South Korea

• Back in November 1992, the Palace sent Prince Charles and Princess Diana (opens in new tab) on a four-day trip to South Korea that was called the "togetherness tour" and was intended to reassure the public that the royal couple was not splitting up.
• Unfortunately, Charles and Diana's marriage had already broken down significantly at that point and onlookers said it was obvious that they were near divorce. A reporter covering the tour said there was a "hatred that radiated between the two" on the trip, according to Express (opens in new tab).
• Shortly after the tour, Charles and Diana officially separated, beginning their journey to ending their marriage.

The fact that Princess Diana and Prince Charles' marriage (opens in new tab) broke down in a big way isn't exactly news to any royal fan...or any human who has followed pop culture news at all in the last 30 years, for that matter. Before news that Charles and Diana's marriage (opens in new tab) was over went public, however, the royal family (opens in new tab) tried a last-ditch effort to help the couple rekindle their love.

According to Express (opens in new tab), that last-ditch effort came in November 1992, when the Palace decided to send Charles and Diana (opens in new tab) on a four-day trip to South Korea which was actually called the "togetherness tour." The idea was to have a lot of happy photo ops that would quell rumors of a split, but the actual effect was, well, pretty much the opposite.

In fact, the minute Charles and Diana (opens in new tab) stepped off their plane in Seoul, it was obvious to onlookers that their relationship was in serious trouble.

Apparently, the animosity between Charles and Diana (opens in new tab) was so obvious that a reporter covering their tour of South Korea commented on the "hatred that radiated between the two as they came down the steps of the plane."

Things didn't improve between Charles and Diana (opens in new tab) during the course of the trip, during which some now iconic pictures depicting the emotional distance between them were snapped, like this shot of the pair attending a presidential banquet at the Blue House in Seoul:

Oof. You can cut the tension with a knife even 29 years later.

The pictures were easily worth a thousand words in this case and finally, royal officials had no choice but to address the breakdown of Charles and Diana's marriage (opens in new tab). 

"We know that they’re not [fine] but we’re doing our best with them," Charles' deputy private secretary Peter Westburcot told the press while the Prince of Wales was visiting a shipyard alone without Diana.

Later that month, after a meeting at Kensington Palace on November 25, Charles and Diana officially decided to separate and the news was announced publicly on December 9 (opens in new tab).