Prince Charles’ Private Letters Revealed: Marriage Was ‘Greek Tragedy,’ Hopes To Be Appreciated After Death

Private letters written by Prince Charles reveal that the Prince of Wales wanted to be appreciated after his death, and they expose Charles’ heartbreak about his marriage to Princess Diana.

Prince Charles’ private letters reveal details of his intimate relationship with Nancy Reagan, the wife of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. The relationship, which was kept under wraps for over 40 years, between Prince Charles and Nancy was often referred to as friendship, but the private letters dating back to the early 80s reveal that Prince Charles was actually “in love” with Mrs. Reagan.

In the private letters between Prince Charles and the wife of the U.K. Ambassador to Washington, Sir Nicholas Henderson, Charles confided to Mrs. Henderson that he “wanted to kiss” Mrs. Reagan during his visit to the White House in 1981, according to the Express.

Interestingly, this is the same year Prince Charles got engaged to Princess Diana. In his private correspondence with Mrs. Henderson, Prince Charles gets candid about its feelings to the U.S. President’s wife, writing, “I have fallen in love with Mrs. Reagan,” and adding that she is “wonderful.”

Private correspondence between Prince Charles and Mrs. Reagan is coming under increased scrutiny as well, as Charles’ letters to the U.S. President’s wife reveal the depth of his despair over life with Princess Diana.

In one of his newly unveiled private letters to Mrs. Reagan, Prince Charles described his marriage to Princess Diana as “a kind of Greek tragedy,” before pouring out his heart to the former First Lady and writing that his marriage “keeps getting worse and worse.”

At the time of her correspondence with Prince Charles, Mrs. Reagan had been married to U.S. President Reagan for nearly three decades. In his private letter to the former U.S. First Lady, Prince Charles promised that he would “one day” tell her “the whole story” about his troubled marriage with Princess Diana.

It’s unclear if Prince Charles and Mrs. Reagan had ever met in person to discuss Charles’ troubled marriage with Princess Diana or if Prince Charles and the U.S. First Lady shared a more intimate bond than a simple friendship. Mrs. Reagan died on March 6, 2016.

The private letters have been released by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library in California.

U.S. President Reagan, who died in 2004, and his battle against Alzheimer’s became the subjects of Prince Charles’ discussions with Mrs. Reagan as well, the letters reveal. Prince Charles met the Reagans in 1974, back when Mr. Reagan was Governor of California.

Another private letter, written by Prince Charles to interior designer and a friend of Charles and Princess Diana, Dudley Poplak, reveals that the Prince wanted to be “appreciated” after his death.

Prince Charles writes that he hopes people would “appreciate the things I try to do after I am dead.” The Prince of Wales also reveals how “awful” his separation from Princess Diana was, which was announced by Prime Minister John Major on December 9, 1992, according to the Daily Mail.

“It can be pretty awful having to live through all the misinterpretation and the flak.”

The private letter between Prince Charles and Mr. Poplak is dated December 11, 1992. The letter is to be auctioned off, as are the other four letters from Charles’ private correspondence.

Prince Charles describes his separation from Princess Diana as “part of the test that I have to go through in order to come out the other side,” adding that he had been “tempered in the fire.”

Princess Diana died in August 1997 after she was fatally injured in a car crash. Prince Charles then married Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in 2005.

[Featured Image by Ron Bell/AP Images]