

Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to Marie Claire. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
It’s a storyline that has played out for the last two seasons of Netflix’s The Crown: Princess Diana’s overwhelming admiration in comparison to that of her husband, the then Prince Charles. Diana’s biographer Andrew Morton—who also becomes a part of the storyline in season five of the series, released this month—says that the now king always struggled to accept that Diana overshadowed him and found her popularity difficult to take.
Morton, who worked as a consultant for this season of the show, tells Insider “Diana, never mind the personal difficulties they had, but on the public stage she overshadowed him. She was the star of the show, and he wasn’t. And it was something that he found very difficult to take. Now he’s the star of the show. He’s king.”
Diana—known as “The People’s Princess”—was almost immediately considered more popular than her husband, as evidenced during the couple’s tour of Australia in 1983. The public turned out in the thousands to welcome the Prince and Princess of Wales, but it was obvious that most only cared about seeing Diana.
“The crowds complained when Prince Charles went over to their side of the street during a walkabout,” Morton says. “In public, Charles accepted the revised status quo with good grace. In private, he blamed Diana,” Morton writes in Diana: Her True Story.
But, in Charles’ second wife Camilla, he found a woman willing to be, as Morton tells Insider, his “cheerleader” and his “number two.”
“He has known Camilla for most of his lifetime,” he says. “She has been a steady cheerleader waiting in the wings to console and comfort him in the way that he always really wanted somebody who would be a companion, but also who would be number two.”
Marie Claire Newsletter
Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

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.
-
Kendall Jenner’s Hair at the Schiaparelli Fashion Show Was Easily Six Inches Tall
The model and 818 founder closed the runway.
By Samantha Holender
-
Red Is the Color for Fall Fashion, But It Also Belongs in Your Makeup Routine
Red lipstick is just the beginning.
By Emma Walsh
-
Anne Hathaway Turns Heads Everywhere in Shimmery Versace Gown
She was attending George and Amal Clooney's Albies.
By Iris Goldsztajn
-
If Prince Harry Does Attend the Coronation, He Will Avoid Bowing to Queen Consort Camilla
Plans are being drawn up to avoid the potentially awkward moment.
By Rachel Burchfield
-
Prince George and Prince Louis Are "Protective" of Mom Kate in Mother's Day Photos, Body Language Expert Says
They have such a sweet relationship.
By Iris Goldsztajn
-
Royal Family Would “Collapse” Without Catherine, Princess of Wales, As the “Future Rests on Her”
No pressure!
By Rachel Burchfield
-
Paris Hilton Calls Princess Diana Her Idol, Says She’s Rooting for Prince Harry
Hilton and Harry both released memoirs this year.
By Rachel Burchfield
-
The Next Royal Adjacent Wedding Is Coming Up—Soon
Let us (re)introduce you to the bride, Lady Amelia Spencer.
By Rachel Burchfield
-
Catherine, Princess of Wales’ Daring Erdem Look from This Week Has a Deeper Backstory
A British fashion label apparently became a divisive element in her relationship with sister-in-law Meghan Markle.
By Rachel Burchfield
-
Sarah Ferguson Says She and Princess Diana Were Once Arrested for Impersonating Police Officers, After Getting Kicked Out of a Club
Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor.
By Iris Goldsztajn
-
While the Royal Family Skipped Princess Lilibet’s Christening, Princess Diana’s Two Sisters Were There
Prince Harry did have family at the event, even though there were no royals.
By Rachel Burchfield