Princess Diana was a fierce mother and her world revolved around her two boys, and this story is proof of that.
When Princess Diana and Prince Charles got married on July 29, 1981, millions of people from around the world bore witness to the holy matrimony. It was almost like watching a fairy tale come true.
The two of them seemed to be happy and in love, especially when they announced they were expecting their first child together a few months after the royal wedding. But they were far from being the perfect couple they were touted to be. By the time Harry was born, their marriage was hanging by a thread, ready to snap at any time. Diana and Charles finally decided to separate in 1991.
By then, rumors were rife about Prince Charles's infidelity, but it was just a rumor at that point until the man himself confirmed it during an interview on ITV in 1994.
He was asked about Camilla, the woman he had dated before he married Diana, and what their relationship was like then. Charles replied that he and Camilla were still friends and that she had been his good friend for a long time and would continue to be, too.
Then, when he was asked if he had ever been unfaithful to his wife, he replied he was faithful to her until their marriage broke down irretrievably. People were scandalized when he admitted that he had cheated and they soon began to question if he was fit for the throne.
In the explosive Panorama interview, Diana also opened up about her husband's infidelity and her conversation with her oldest son about Charles' affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. Speaking of how she'd reacted to her husband admitting to Jonathan Dimbleby that he had committed adultery, the mother-of-two said: "Well, I was totally unaware of the content of the book, and actually saw it on the news that night that it had come out, and my first concern was to the children, because they were able to understand what was coming out, and I wanted to protect them. But I was pretty devastated myself. But then I admired the honesty because it takes a lot to do that."
"Well, to be honest about a relationship with someone else, in his position - that's quite something," she added.
"I went to the school and put it to William, particularly, that if you find someone you love in life you must hang on to it and look after it, and if you were lucky enough to find someone who loved you then one must protect it. William asked me what had been going on, and could I answer his questions, which I did. He said, was that the reason why our marriage had broken up? And I said, well, there were three of us in this marriage, and the pressure of the media was another factor, so the two together were very difficult. But although I still loved Papa I couldn't live under the same roof as him, and likewise with him."
The doting mom added that she was a little worried about how her son would take the upsetting news. "Well, he's a child that's a deep thinker, and we don't know for a few years how it's gone in," she said. "But I put it in gently, without resentment or any anger."
In an interview 20 years after his mother's shocking death, Prince William said he understood why his mother made the decision to go public. "I can understand – having sometimes been in those situations, you feel incredibly desperate and it is very unfair that things are being said that are untrue," he said. "The easiest thing to do is just to say or go to the media yourself. Open that door. [But] once you’ve opened it you can never close it again."
Princess Diana was a fierce mother and her world revolved around her two boys, and this story is proof of that.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles:_The_Private_Man,_the_Public_Role
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/diana/panorama.html
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Princess Diana Archive
