On the heels of the twenty-sixth anniversary of her death in a Parisian car accident at age 36, newly unearthed tapes of Princess Diana’s thoughts on her marriage, family, and mental health have been released, multiple outlets report.
The tapes were recorded for Andrew Morton, the man who would essentially become Diana’s biographer, for his book Diana: Her True Story, released in 1992. The tapes, The Mirror reports, are expected to be released next year as part of a documentary, called Diana: The Rest of Her Story; while it would have been virtually impossible to interview Diana for the book, the tapes were Morton’s way to communicate with the then Princess of Wales secretly. While much of the tapes’ content has been covered already in print and the 2017 documentary Diana: In Her Own Words, more details and quotes that haven’t been spoken about before are coming to light. Here are a few of the revelations from the seven hours’ worth of tapes, of which Morton said “I think people will get a very vivid sense of her personality and her character.”
“When the first film came out, people were blown away because they had not heard Diana talk like this before,” said Tom Jennings, the producer of both the 2017 documentary and the forthcoming film. “It’s a style of storytelling that is very difficult to do, but I think it is the closest thing to the truth that you can get, because nothing gets in your way. It is important as part of Diana’s legacy to allow more of those tapes to be heard.”
On how the then Prince Charles handled confrontation—and his desire for a daughter
Prince Charles, 32, married a just-turned-20-years-old Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981, and the marriage was a mismatch essentially from the start. Beyond their age difference, Charles and Diana were simply just too different and barely knew one another, having only seriously interacted a handful of times before their engagement. In the tapes, Diana revealed how Charles had a tendency to shut down in the wake of confrontation: “At [Prince] Harry’s christening, Charles went up to mummy and said ‘We’re so disappointed, we wanted a girl,’ and mummy snapped his head off and said ‘You should realize you are lucky to have a child that’s normal,’” Diana said. “Ever since that day, the shutters have come down. That’s what he does when he gets somebody answering back at him.” Charles and Diana had two children—Prince William, born in 1982, and Harry, born in 1984; they separated in 1992 (the same year Morton’s book was released) and eventually finalized their divorce in 1996 after 15 years of marriage.
On her wedding day
Dubbed the Wedding of the Century, Diana apparently thought the whole thing was outrageous: “It was grown up,” she said on the tapes. “Here’s Diana, a kindergarten teacher. I mean, the whole thing was ridiculous.”
Stay In The Know
Marie Claire email subscribers get intel on fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more. Sign up here.
On her strained relationship with her stepmother
Diana’s parents divorced when she was young, and her father remarried socialite Raine Spencer (who Diana infamously called “Acid Raine”), daughter of one of Diana’s favorite romance novelists, Barbara Cartland. Raine married Diana’s father in 1976, when Diana was 15, and of her stepmother Diana said on the tapes “I was so angry. I said, ‘I hate you so much. If you only knew how much we all hated you for what you’ve done. You ruined the house. You spent daddy’s money.’ I have said everything I possibly could. Raine said, ‘You have no idea how much pain your mother put your father through.’”
Diana continued “I said, ‘Pain, Raine? It’s one word you don’t even know how to relate to. In my job, I see people suffer like you never see. You call that pain?’ I said, ‘You’ve got a lot to learn.’ I remember really going for her gullet.” (By the way, after her divorce from Charles, Diana and Raine eventually reconciled before the Princess of Wales died in 1997.)
Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.
-
Hilary Duff Welcomes 3rd Child With Husband Matthew Koma
Townes is her fourth child overall.
By Iris Goldsztajn Published
-
Upgrade Your Vacation Wardrobe With Summer Staples From Shopbop and Nordstrom Rack
Next stop: The airport.
By Julia Marzovilla Published
-
Well, Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ Might Not Be Completely Done After All
The success of ‘Scoop’ is reportedly prompting the streaming giant’s bosses to bring ‘The Crown’ back in a new, interesting form after the show concluded last year.
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Princess Diana’s First Work Contract—Which Includes a Fib from Diana Herself Written In Her Own Handwriting—Sells at Auction for a Staggering Sum
The then Lady Diana Spencer wrote she was looking to start work as “soon as possible” back in May 1979.
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Princess Diana Only Attended One Met Gala and Was, Unsurprisingly, the “Belle of the Ball”
Her “elegant, but revealing” John Galliano for Dior silk slip dress, worn to the event in 1996, is loaded with symbolism—and almost didn’t happen.
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Diana Spencer, Then 19, Started Sobbing in the Ladies’ Room As She Asked Princess Grace of Monaco for Advice About Marrying Royalty
As their stars collided that night in March 1981, neither the former Grace Kelly nor the future Princess of Wales had any idea that they’d both someday die far too young in the same manner.
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Princess Diana Revealed to a Royal Author the Real Reason Why Her Marriage to Prince Charles Ended Not Long Before She Died in 1997
And no, it apparently wasn’t Camilla Parker-Bowles.
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Princess Diana Told Queen Elizabeth Through Tears That Her Then-Husband Prince Charles Was “A Nightmare” and That She “Hated” Him, Royal Author Claims
Ingrid Seward’s new book examines the relationship between mother and son, Her late Majesty and her heir, Charles.
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Princess Diana Would Be "Absolutely Distraught" Over the State of Prince William and Prince Harry's Relationship, Expert Claims
She wanted them to have each other's backs.
By Iris Goldsztajn Published
-
Princess Diana’s Wedding Dress Designer Is Working On a Modern Interpretation of the Iconic Gown 43 Years Later
“I wouldn’t change a thing on the dress in 1981, but if I was looking at it through my eyes now, there’s so many possibilities.”
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Princess Diana’s Brother Earl Charles Spencer Speaks Out on the Kate Middleton Drama: “I Do Worry About What Happened to the Truth”
He also weighed in on whether the media frenzy was worse in the 1990s with Diana or in the present day with Kate.
By Rachel Burchfield Published