Princess Diana "Hated" Royal Family's "Barbaric" Hunting Tradition, But Had "Ritual Blood Smeared on Her Face" to Please King Charles

Princess Diana's marriage to King Charles was allegedly rather turbulent. According to a former royal butler who worked with the pair, Princess Diana put a ton of effort into making her marriage work. In fact, the former Princess of Wales reportedly went so far as to embrace a gruesome Royal Family tradition, which Princess Kate has already forbidden her children from taking part in.

In the new book, The Royal Insider: My Life with The Queen, The King, and Princess Diana—which is being serialized by the Daily Mail—former royal butler Paul Burrell explained, "[Diana] disliked country pursuits: horses, shooting, mud, and particularly hunting, which she thought was barbaric. But she tried so hard to please her husband."

Elaborating on Diana's dislike of hunting, Burrell wrote, "I remember her returning from her first stalking party at Balmoral. She hated every moment of it: watching the deer's belly being slit with the entrails coming out and the ritual blood smeared on her face."

However, the reason Princess Diana allegedly agreed to take part in the horrifying act was simple, according to Burrell: "She did it for Charles."

The former royal butler alleged that Diana made many personal revelations to him during his tenure. According to Burrell, Diana told him, "[Charles] never wanted a lover. He wanted a mother." Despite any misgivings the princess might have had about her husband, "she always loved Charles," Burrell claimed.

According to Burrell, "Diana once told me that Charles had told her in the middle of one of their epic arguments: 'I never loved you. I only married you to have children.'" Sadly, the issues inherent in Diana and Charles's marriage escalated further, and the pair announced their separation in 1992. They would finalize their divorce in 1996, one year before Diana's death.