Princess Diana And Prince Charles’ Feud Would Not Have Escalated Into A Divorce

After a fairy tale wedding in 1981, Prince Charles’ marriage to Princess Diana turned sour, resulting in the revelation of their respective cheating scandals and, eventually, their divorce in 1996. But while the princess admitted that she was devastated by her husband’s affair with Camilla, details now suggest that Princess Di actually wanted to keep their family intact.

Diana Still Loved Charles

Naturally, Princess Diana was hurt when she found out that Prince Charles was having an affair with his ex-lover then and now second wife, Camilla. However, she still had a very good reason to try to patch things up with Charles or, at least, refrain from doing anything so final such as seeking a divorce. And the reason is very simple — she still loved Charles at that point.

That is the revelation of Jenni Rivett, Princess Diana’s personal trainer and confidant. “She loved Charles,” Rivett revealed on Yahoo’s “The Royal Box,” “She wasn’t the one who wanted to separate or divorce. She was sad about it. She wanted to be a loving wife.”

Diana Did Not Want The Boys To Experience The Divorce Of Their Parents

When Prince Charles started his affair with Camilla in 1986, Prince William was not yet five years old and his brother, Prince Harry, was even younger. For Princess Diana, who loved both her two sons, having them experience growing up with divorced parents was simply unthinkable.

She knew just how hard it is for a very young child to grow up with a broken family. Princess Diana was just seven years old when her parents divorced, an episode in her life that she described as “very wishy-washy and painful experience.”

Diana wanted to protect her young boys from the harsh reality of living with divorced parents. It was something that she did not want her young children to go through. Thus, divorce was not an option for her at that time.

But The Queen Intervened

However, whatever plans Princess Diana had at that time needed to be abandoned. The Buckingham Palace announced on Dec. 20, 1995, that the Queen finally intervened and ordered the couple to divorce. “After considering the present situation, the queen wrote to both the prince and princess earlier this week and gave them her view, supported by the Duke of Edinburgh, that an early divorce is desirable,” the palace said in a statement. However, the palace also said that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip would “continue to do all they can to help and support the Prince and Princess of Wales, and most particularly their children, in this difficult period.”

Charles readily agreed with the palace’s recommendation. However, it took Diana until July of 1996 to work out the details before she agreed. The divorce then took effect in August 1996.