Kristyn Burtt
Thu, May 4, 2023 at 1:24 AM GMT+10·2 min read
Diana, Princess of Wales
Member of the British royal family; first wife of Prince Charles (1961–1997)
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, SheKnows may receive an affiliate commission.
King Charles III’s coronation this week will be exactly what he dreamed of with his wife, Queen Camilla, by his side. However, not everyone watching the ceremony will get that same warm fuzzy feeling from seeing Charles and Camilla together, especially if you were once Princess Diana’s private secretary.
Patrick Jephson, in a personal essay for the Daily Mail, shared some of his memories of the late princess and how Charles became jealous and “found it difficult to take pleasure from public admiration, even affection, for his then-wife.” He watched firsthand how “an extraordinary resentment took control” and how some of his advisers spun a narrative that Princess Diana was “mentally ill.”
After the divorce, Diana found herself “estranged from the royal support system” that “led only to a mirage of freedom and ultimate tragedy.” Jephson believes that her untimely death will loom large over King Charles III’s coronation on Saturday as the world watches “the transformation of Camilla Parker Bowles from guilty secret into the anointed Queen of the United Kingdom.” As Tom Jennings, director of Charles: In His Own Words, told SheKnows, the king played a “very long game” in getting Camilla to the finish line.
Even though Jephson and Diana ended their friendship on “unhappy terms” due to “Martin Bashir’s lies” in the wake of her infamous Panorama interview, he is still loyal to the late Princess of Wales. And he hates that “journalists are still being fed a well-worn palace sales pitch about Camilla the wholesome dog-walking countrywoman” because the palace knows how strongly the legacy of Princess Diana still radiates — not just locally, but globally.
Nelle's journey 