When Princess Diana and King Charles finalised their divorce 29 years ago today, a young Prince William made his mother a heart-wrenching promise after she was stripped of her royal title
Today marks 29 years since Princess Diana and the then Prince Charles finalised their divorce, after their ill-fated marriage lasted just 11 years. The royal couple tied the knot at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, in 1981, before they decided to separate in 1992, with their divorce eventually finalised four years later in August 1996.
As part of Diana’s settlement from the divorce, she reportedly received a whopping £17 million lump sum and £350,000 a year to run her private office. However, one aspect of her divorce left her devastated, with a young Prince William vowing to correct the mistake.
Diana was allowed to keep her apartments at Kensington Palace, and the pair agreed to share custody of their sons. However, one thing she was unable to keep was her HRH title.
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Diana became Her Royal Highness, The Princess of Wales, on her wedding day in July 1981, but when her separation from Charles was finalised, she became known as Diana, Princess of Wales – leaving her distraught over the change.
Losing the HRH meant it was no longer necessary for friends or staff to bow or curtsy in Diana’s presence. It also meant she would now have to curtsy to her husband, her two sons, and a whole host of minor royals.
Diana eventually lost her connection with the Royal Family, with whom she was once so entangled, but remained a hands-on mother to her two young sons, William and Harry, throughout the divorce as she navigated life as a single parent.
After seeing her distress at losing her HRH title, a 14-year-old William is believed to have made her a touching promise. He told her: “Don’t worry Mummy, I will give it [HRH title] back to you one day when I am King.”
According to her former butler, Paul Burrell, the conversation left Diana in tears. Despite William’s thoughtful remark, he never got to fulfil his promise, as just one year later, Princess Diana died.
Charles and Diana’s marriage was notoriously turbulent. Charles even made a cutting comment to his then wife as she struggled to fit in the Firm, unlike her sister-in-law, Sarah Ferguson.
Given that both Sarah and Diana had a country upbringing and shared a fun-loving free spirit, many royal commentators at the time started to compare the two women. However, while they were alike in many ways, one major difference between them was how they adapted to royal life.
Aware of the differences between his wife and his brother Prince Andrew’s other half, Charles reportedly asked Diana one day why she wasn’t more like Fergie, the Duchess of York.
Psychologist Jo Hemmings told Channel 5’s Fergie Vs Diana: Royal Wives at War documentary: “There was a point at which Charles said to Diana, ‘Why can’t you be more Fergie?’. For someone whose self-esteem is already pretty low, who is feeling very vulnerable. That wasn’t just a rebute. That would have been one of the most cutting, hurtful remarks that her husband could have made to her.”
