Princess Diana Was Left ‘In Tears’ Over Prince Philip’s ‘Knock-Out’ Camilla Remark, Says Ex-Butler
Former royal butler Paul Burrell claimed Prince Philip blamed Princess Diana for the breakdown of her marriage in a private letter.
When Princess Diana first joined the royal family in 1981 following her marriage to King Charles, Prince Philip reportedly admired her ability to connect with the public. Over time, however, his views appeared to shift, particularly after her infamous BBC Panorama interview. According to former royal butler Paul Burrell, Philip once made a harsh remark involving Charles's long-time mistress, Queen Camilla, that left Diana deeply hurt. The late Duke allegedly accused the Princess of driving her husband into Camilla's arms, causing the breakdown of her marriage.
In his book, A Royal Duty, Burrell recalled Diana's reaction to some of her father-in-law's opinions about her broken marriage. He penned, "What stunned the Princess was when Prince Philip raised the thorny issue of her husband's mistress." As per him, Philip wrote in a letter that "she [Diana] should have been grateful that her husband had, initially, cut himself off from Camilla Parker Bowles. Prince Charles felt he had made 'a considerable sacrifice' in cutting ties with her [Camilla] and that the Princess had 'not appreciated what he had done.'" But that's not all, as it's the late Duke of Edinburgh's following 'knock-out' blow, which allegedly left the late Princess of Wales sobbing.
In the same correspondence, Philip reportedly wrote, "Can you honestly look into your heart and say that Charles's relationship with Camilla had nothing to do with your behavior towards him in your marriage?" Burrell continued, "The Princess was being accused of driving Prince Charles into the arms of the one woman she had tried to keep him away from. Even a year on, the idea made her blood boil." According to him, it reportedly caused Diana to rant, "They are all the bloody same—looking after one another!" Philip allegedly also believed that his late daughter-in-law's media strategy and public disclosures were damaging the monarchy.
Interestingly, these alleged opinions were in stark contrast to Philip's initial view about the collapse of Diana's marriage before the BBC interview. As reported by Metro, he once wrote, "We do not approve of either of you having lovers. Charles was silly to risk everything with Camilla for a man in his position. We never dreamed he might feel like leaving you for her. I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind leaving you for Camilla." Diana initially found both Queen Elizabeth and Philip to be supportive as her marriage fell apart, though that opinion quickly unraveled.
