When Princess Diana Claimed Why Her Marriage With Prince Charles ‘Went Down the Drain’

In 1991, Princess Diana said in an interview that her relationship with Prince Charles "went down the drain" after Prince Harry was born, even though they were close to each other during the final stages of her second pregnancy. As stated by Diana herself, "Oh God, it's a boy" was the first thing her husband uttered to her when Harry was born, according to Diana's biographer Andrew Morton in his book Diana: Her True Story.

As reported by Good Housekeeping, Diana revealed at the time, "Charles and I were very, very close to each other the six weeks before Harry was born, the closest we've ever, ever been and ever will be. Then, suddenly, as Harry was born, it just went bang, our marriage. The whole thing went down the drain." Prince Charles had "always" longed for a girl, thus Diana claimed that she hid the baby's sex from him. She added, "He wanted two children and he wanted a girl." The disappointment was entirely unexpected since the information was kept under wraps until the delivery. "Oh God, it's a boy," she claims her husband exclaimed at first, and then he added, "and he's even got red hair."

The late Princess also said that Prince Charles expressed his disappointment to Frances Shand Kydd, his mother-in-law, during Harry's baptism, saying, "We thought it would be a girl." Diana's mother reportedly "snapped his head off" after that, standing firmly by her daughter and telling him to "realize how lucky you are to have a child that's normal." Diana admitted to Andrew Morton that Prince Harry's birth signaled the start of her marriage to Charles going "down the drain," even though she called him a "miracle" and "a complete joy" who had helped her see through "total darkness." Diana also discovered that "something inside me closed off" as a consequence of the painful remarks, and the pair broke up a few years later. The princess eventually blamed the couple's issues on Charles' extramarital affair rather than their second kid. 

The Queen acknowledged that she had a great deal of pressure from the media after the arrival of her first child. She was really induced since the pain was so "unbearable," but they had to choose a day that didn't conflict with Prince Charles' polo schedule. As reported by People, she said, "When we had William, we had to find a date in the diary that suited Charles and his polo. William had to be induced because I couldn’t handle the press pressure any longer, it was becoming unbearable. It was as if everyone was monitoring every day for me. Anyway, the boy arrived, with great excitement. Thrilled, everyone absolutely high as a kite – we had found a date where Charles could get off his polo pony for me to give birth. That was very nice, felt grateful about that!"

This article originally appeared 9 months ago.