Princess Diana Once Confessed Camilla Haunted Her Honeymoon With Charles:'I Was Obsessed'
Diana once opened up about how her honeymoon with Charles became overshadowed by fears and doubts she never expected to face.
While Princess Diana's life tragedy is a secret to none, there is still a lot the general public does not know. The late Princess reportedly once revealed that what should have been the happiest trip of her life turned into one of the most difficult. Years after marrying then-Prince Charles, Diana, in a conversation with a friend, spoke candidly about how their 12-day Mediterranean honeymoon was overshadowed by her growing fears over the now Queen Camilla. From dreaming about Queen Camilla to an emotional confrontation over a pair of cufflinks, Diana later described the honeymoon as the chapter that revealed the cracks in her marriage.
Diana, back in the day, discussed her issues with Andrew Morton for his 1992 book. "At night, I dreamt of Camilla the whole time; I was obsessed by Camilla totally," the Princess confessed to Morton. Diana said her anxiety had already begun before the wedding after learning that Charles planned to give Camilla a farewell bracelet. But things became even harder during the honeymoon when, according to Diana, two photographs of Camilla fell out of Charles’ diary while they were looking through their schedules.
However, her anxiety was not the only issue that impacted her honeymoon with Charles. There was another incident that stayed with Diana for years. Royal biographer Catherine Mayer wrote that Camilla had given Charles a personalized pair of cufflinks before the royal wedding. Diana reportedly recognized them immediately when Charles wore them during their honeymoon. Diana told Morton, “Cufflinks arrive on his wrists – two ‘C’s entwined like the Chanel ‘C’s. Camilla gave you those, didn’t she?”
Charles reportedly replied they were simply "a present from a friend." However, the response led to what Diana described as a fierce argument. While Diana exposed the crack in her marriage with Charles, the then-Prince tried to cover up the issues. Charles painted a much calmer picture of the honeymoon in letters written at the time. He described married life as “very jolly” but also admitted that the couple often spent time apart. He detailed how Diana would socialize with crew members, while Charles preferred to spend time alone reading on deck.
After the cruise, the couple traveled to Balmoral. Although Diana smiled for photographers and even told reporters she would “highly recommend” marriage, she later revealed that she felt isolated and deeply unhappy behind closed doors.
Mayer opined that the honeymoon was only the beginning of issues in their marriage. “The thing that is so striking about Charles and Diana is they got married understanding almost nothing of each other – or what they were doing to themselves,” she explained. Charles and Diana separated in 1992 and divorced four years later. Both later acknowledged relationships outside their marriage, with Charles eventually marrying Camilla in 2005. Following Charles' accession in 2022 and coronation in 2023, Camilla became Queen.