The Bracelet That Broke Princess Diana's Heart: Prince Charles' Betrothed Saw 'Camilla Signs' Just Weeks Before Royal Wedding
The doomed marriage between King Charles III and his first wife, the late Diana, Princess of Wales, is "one royal story that never gets old," according to a former palace insider. Although bound for "the royal history books," the princess' "near-constant" emotional pain while married to a man who loved another still resonates.
Just weeks before Lady Diana and the then-Prince of Wales' July 29, 1981, wedding, the aristocrat's daughter found a bracelet engraved "G and F," for "Gladys and Fred," which was Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles' "pet names" for one another.
In 1992, the one-time future queen told journalist Andrew Morton, "Somebody in his office told me that my husband had had a bracelet made for her, which she wears to this day. It's a gold chain bracelet with a blue enamel disc. It's got 'G and F' entwined in it, 'Gladys' and 'Fred.'"
Diana then added, "I walked into this man's office one day and said: 'Oh, what's in that parcel?'"
"He said: 'Oh, you shouldn't look at that.'"
"I said: 'Well, I'm going to look at it.'"
"I opened it, and there was (the) bracelet, and I said: 'I know where this is going.' I was devastated. This was about two weeks before we got married."
Lady Diana recounted how just shortly before discovering the gift, she overheard her prince confessing his true love for his mistress, who one day became his queen.
"I once heard him on the telephone in his bath on his hand-held set, saying: 'Whatever happens, I will always love you.' I told him afterward that I had listened at the door, and we had a filthy row," Diana continued.
The Princess of Wales also told Morton — who later that year printed his conversations with the royal in the bestseller Diana: Her True Story — that the future king chided her about her looks in the months before their fairytale nuptials. Diana's battle with bulimia was initially triggered by a comment made by Prince Charles about her weight, which, combined with the stress of her public life and personal insecurities, led her to seek control through eating.
"Oh, a bit chubby here, aren't we?" the Prince of Wales joked to his wife-to-be. The disorder manifested as a coping mechanism for the overwhelming anxiety and loneliness she felt within the confines of her royal duties and the lack of emotional support from her husband.
When the princess-to-be sought help, her elder sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, reportedly told her that her name was already on the palace tea towels. This was meant as a lighthearted remark made to Diana after her engagement, referencing the fact that towels at the palace were already embroidered with the letter "D," which would match her new monogram once she became Diana, Princess of Wales.
Charles and Diana divorced in August 1996, one year after Camilla and her first husband, Andrew Parker-Bowles, split. The King and Queen married in 2005.
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Geo News reported on Morton's book.
