Newly Unearthed Princess Diana Letters Reveal Her Cheeky Messages With a Late Hollywood Star
Princess Diana's private letters to actor Terence Stamp reveal a witty, candid side of the royal rarely seen by the public.
While Princess Diana was globally revered for her philanthropy and her willingness to bend royal protocols for those in need, her life behind closed doors remained largely shielded from view. Now, newly surfaced letters offer a rare glimpse into her private world. A collection of intimate, playful messages between Diana and a British actor has come to light, providing a window into her personal life during one of her most turbulent chapters.
Though their friendship remained a closely guarded secret for decades, a newly unveiled collection of letters is shedding fresh light on Diana’s unlikely bond with acclaimed actor Terence Stamp. Set to go under the hammer, the 1991 correspondence offers a remarkably candid look at the late princess. In the notes, Diana opens up about turning to the antidepressant Prozac during a particularly fraught period in her marriage, while also exchanging cheeky, lighthearted, and occasionally risqué cards with the actor.
The correspondence highlights just how comfortable Diana had become with the actor. In an October 1991 note, as per GB News, she thanked Stamp for a "perfect" risotto lunch and told him she was "touched to the core by your understanding of my job/role and what comes with it!" The following month, after another outing over caviar, she jokingly reassured him: "No Prozac withdrawals as yet!"
But the most shocking message came in December, when the late Princess used a postcard featuring a bare breast to ask for another lunch date, signing off with the cheeky message: "All the Breast from London." Another featured a husband and wife in bed with the question, "Why did God invent SEX?" Open it up, and the punchline suggests married couples should be intimate "at least twice a year."
The letters were written just a year before Andrew Morton's Diana: Her True Story brought the princess's marital unhappiness to public attention in 1992. Later that same year, Diana and Charles publicly announced their separation. Diana’s letters might get the most attention, but they form just one part of a much larger collection chronicling Stamp's remarkable life and career. The auction also includes items connected to his romances with Jean Shrimpton and Julie Christie. The actor died in August 2025, aged 87.
Meanwhile, a separate auction is offering a rare window into Diana’s formative years. This collection features never-before-seen school photographs alongside letters and cards preserved by her childhood friend, Katherine Hanbury. Among the archives, the definitive standout is a letter the future princess penned during her 1981 honeymoon with Prince Charles—written during the optimistic dawn of their marriage, long before the cracks in their relationship began to surface.
