When Prince Charles Knew Princess Diana's Bombshell Tapes Would 'Paint Him in a Bad Light'

Princess Diana married the then Prince of Wales, in 1981, the royal couple had a tumultuous marriage right from the start and they subsequently divorced in 1996. 26 years after Diana's untimely demise, Diana: The Rest of Her Story, a startling new documentary, was released. A sequel to 2017's Diana: In Her Own Words, the documentary film was based on cassette recordings made by the late princess in the 1990s for biographer Andrew Morton. As per OK Magazine, whilst the Princess of Wales was still living in Kensington Palace in London and married to Charles, the recordings were made with her close friend James Colthurst. “For Charles, it’s yet another unseemly headache he can do without,” an insider revealed. “He knows it paints him in a bad light.” 

“Diana wanted to get her side of the story out there at the time,” the insider continued. “She was sick and tired of being controlled by the monarchy and felt the need to speak up.” As per Fox News, the recordings were made for British writer Morton, who penned the shocking novel Diana: Her True Story in 1992. With Diana's permission, the British journalist went through mutual acquaintance Colthurst to get the tapes for his book. In one snippet the late princess called her wedding day 'ridiculous', "It was so grown up," she is heard saying. "Here’s Diana, a kindergarten teacher. I mean the whole thing was ridiculous." 

In another part of the famous recording, Diana can be heard revealing that Prince Charles was "disappointed" when he found out that Prince Harry was not a girl. "My husband won’t even talk to mummy, barely," said Diana. "Because of Harry’s christening, Charles went up to mummy and said, ‘You know, we were so disappointed. We thought it would be a girl.’" "And mummy snapped his head off," Diana continued. "And she said, ‘You should realize how lucky you are to have a child that’s normal.' Ever since that day, the shutters have come down. That’s what he does when he gets somebody answering back at him." The author of The King and The Day Diana Died, Christopher Andersen, explained that the recordings "are a haunting reminder" of the late Princess of Wales's inner agony and her need to be heard. 

"The reason for Charles’ new attitude was simple — he wanted a girl to round out the family," Andersen shared. "He was so convinced Diana was pregnant with a girl that he refused to look at any sonograms. Diana did look, however. ‘I knew it was a boy,’ she later said. ‘And I didn’t tell him.’ Diana recalled, "We 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.’" 

As per The Independent, the recordings were made public one week before the first anniversary of the late Queen's passing and one day after the 26th anniversary of Diana's death on August 31, 1997. As per The NYPost, Diana's close friend Colthurst claimed that Charles's affair took a physical and mental toll. “You could see her fading physically,” Colthurst said. “It was clear to all those who knew her that the bulimia was a reaction to the circumstances she found herself in.”