An audio recording of Princess Diana describing an evening event during which she confronted Camilla Parker Bowles about her affair with Prince Charles has gone viral on social media. It follows the coronation of Queen Camilla and King Charles at Westminster Abbey, London, on May 6.
Diana recorded a series of interviews in 1992 as part of a biography project with royal author Andrew Morton. The princess collaborated with the writer in secret. She wanted to present her side of the breakdown in her marriage to the public, which she didn't feel was being done by the media.
To maintain deniability of her involvement, Diana did not meet with Morton directly. Instead, she recorded interviews from her apartment at Kensington Palace, London, with long-time friend, Dr. James Colthurst. He then gave the tapes to Morton. Diana made a number of startling confessions on the tape. These included details of her upbringing, as well as her history with bulimia, and attempts at self-harm.
The overarching theme of the interviews was the breakdown of her marriage, and the role that her husband's relationship with Camilla played in her unhappiness. The book based on the interviews was titled Diana: Her True Story. It was published in June 1992, with both author Morton and Diana denying the princess' involvement.
After Diana's death in 1997 in a Paris car crash, Morton finally confirmed the princess had been the source of his royal scoop. He also published transcripts of her interviews. In 2004, Morton's tapes were broadcast for the first time in an NBC documentary titled Princess Diana: The Secret Tapes. National Geographic re-packaged and re-broadcast the interviews in 2017 on the 20th anniversary of the princess' death as Diana: In Her Own Words.
A clip from the latter documentary has gone viral on TikTok this week. It contains Diana's recollection of a 1980s party at which she confronted Camilla over her affair with Charles. Uploaded by user everythingroyal0, the video has been viewed over 3 million times and received more than 165,000 likes and 2,000 comments.
Describing the party, which she attended with Charles at the home of a friend, Diana said: "I walk into the house and stick my hand out to Camilla for the first time and think 'Phew, got over that.'
"We were all upstairs and chatting away, and I suddenly noticed that there was no Camilla and no Charles upstairs," Diana added. "So, this disturbs me. So, I make my way to go downstairs, and I know what I'm going to confront myself with. They try and stop me from going downstairs: 'Diana, don't go down there.' 'I have to go and find my husband.' I go downstairs, and there's a very happy little threesome going on down there. It's Camilla, Charles and another man who I don't really know chatting away."
After approaching the group, the princess asked Camilla to speak privately. "I thought right, this is your moment," she said on the tapes, re-broadcast on the documentary.
"So, I went and sat down and joined in the conversation as though we were best friends and I said: 'Camilla, I'd love to have a word with you if possible.' And she got really uncomfortable and put her head down and said: 'Oh yes, fine.' And I said to the two men: 'Okay, boys, I'm just going to have a quick word with Camilla and I'll be up in a minute.' And they shot upstairs like chickens with no heads, and I could feel upstairs all hell breaking loose: 'What is she going to do?'
"I said: 'Camilla, would you like to sit down.' So, we sat down and I was terrified of her, and I said: 'Camilla, I'd just like you to know that I know exactly what's going on.' And she said: 'I don't know what you're talking about.' And I said: 'I know what's going on between you and Charles and I just want you to know that.'"
The princess then gave Camilla's alleged response, which was: "'You've got everything you've ever wanted. All the men in the world fall in love with you. You've got two beautiful children. What more could you want?'" To which Diana said she responded: "'I want my husband.'"
A number of commenters on the viral video have praised the princess, with one post reading: "This confrontation was brave. But she met Camilla as an equal. She didn't belittle her. They looked each other in the eye."
In the months after the Morton book was published, Charles and Diana announced their official separation. In 1995, the princess gave her now-infamous interview to BBC's Panorama. It was later found to have been secured through the "deceitful" journalistic practices of broadcaster Martin Bashir.
Bashir asked Diana: "Do you think Mrs. Parker-Bowles was a factor in the breakdown of your marriage?"
Diana gave her famous response: "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
Following the interview, Charles and Diana divorced, and the prince began to publicly introduce Camilla as his partner.
After Diana's death in 1997, Charles and Camilla waited eight years before they announced their engagement. Public attitudes towards the bride had eased after years of hostility. In 2005, the couple married, and in 2022, they became king and queen following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Today, Camilla is the ninth most-popular royal in Britain, according to a poll by YouGov.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
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