Media Intrusion

Lady Diana was always unhappy when the media people, particularly photographers, kept on peeping into her personal life. At her wedding function, she was very uncomfortable with a plethora of cameras focusing on her. On one occasion, when she was keenly watching a Polo match in which Prince Charles participated, the photographers kept a non-stop watch on her. Finally, Lady Diana left the place in tears. At another match, she was so uncomfortable and nervous that she retreated most of the time to the back of the royal enclosure or kept half-hidden in the doorway to shun the photographers. Thus, ironically Diana, who earlier was the most photographed person in the world, detested media peeping into her private life and avoided the paparazzi.

Camilla's Case

Mrs Camilla Parker-Bowels (maiden name Camilla Shand) knew Charles even before he married Diana. She is not very pretty but her open-mindedness and outgoing nature impress men. She made her first public appearance at a cocktail party in 1960s. Both before and after her divorce with husband Andrew Parker-Bowles, she has been quite intimate with Charles.

Diana was a young and beautiful princess who believed that the fairytale marriages do come true. Having come from a broken family - her parents had separated - Diana desired to make her own marriage a success. But it was in vain. At the honeymoon, Lady Diana discovered the affair between her husband and Camilla Parker-Bowels, a socialite who was 13 years older to her.

It was shocking to the newly wed Diana to realize that her dream of a happy married life had been shattered by the Charles-Camilla escapades. As she could not found happiness in her childhood, Di tried to seek a perfect marital bliss but in vain.

With untold riches at her fingertips and an adoring nation virtually behind her, the glamorous princess frequently impressed the masses in a manner and on a scale that the royal family had not done before. Lady Diana's affable personality enchanted almost everybody. The most striking feature of the beautiful princess was her height - almost six feet. Her blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, an endearing smile and a sharp sense of humor impressed many. But there were others who found Diana as extremely stubborn and unreasonably demanding at times.

Strict Royal Code

When Diana was married, she was a coy and pretty girl just out of her teens. She was, by nature, a free bird. But after marriage, Lady Diana was under constant pressure. She had to observe the protocol and strict traditions of the royal family. But following the strict code was, perhaps, too difficult for the new princess.

Lady Diana's popularity grew more over a period of time. At first, Prince Charles was pleased with the press glare being focused on his new and more glamorous life. But this glee soon turned into disappointment when he found that his carefully prepared speeches were relegated to the back pages by the print media while her latest outfit made it to the first page.

Suicide Attempts

When Lady Diana was expecting her first child in 1982, she again overheard a conversation between her husband and Camilla on the phone. In this, the prince openly professed his love to Camilla. The princess was highly upset, so much so that she attempted suicide (and killing the baby in the womb) by throwing herself down the stairs. But fortunately both Diana and her child emerged safe. This was the first of several attempts she made in ending her distraught life.

The royal marriage that was launched with great fanfare 11 months back was on the rocks by the time the couple's first child was born. The first son of Prince Charles and Lady Diana was born on June 21, 1982 just 10 days before her 21st birthday. Having been deprived of her mother's love at a very tender age, Lady Diana managed to nurture the infant William well but her relationship with Prince Charles took a further downturn.

Despite an outward life full of glamour and royal luxury, Lady Diana's real life was marked by despondency. In state of acute depression after realizing that her husband had been continuing his relationship with Camilla, Lady Diana made several attempts to kill herself after the birth of her first son. She tried to cut herself by piercing a penknife into the chest, wrist and thighs and also by throwing herself on to a glass cabinet.

Lady Diana then had to undergo a psychiatric treatment for a few months. But the battle-lines inside the palace between the royal couple had been clearly drawn : the prince's amorous escapades and a volatile temper against his wife's faithfulness and iron will.

Rift To The Fore

A typical example of the royal rift was visible in November 1982 when both Prince Charles and Lady Diana were expected to attend the Annual Festival of Remembrance in honor of Britain's dead soldiers at the Royal Hall in London. On this particular day, Lady Diana announced that she had spent several sleepless nights looking after her infant son and was too exhausted to attend the function. But Prince Charles insisted that she change her mind keeping in view the significance. The princess was, however, was unrelenting. An irate prince later stormed into the function alone and told other members of the party that his wife was not well and her seat be forthwith removed from the royal box.

In a strange manner, Lady Diana then decided to attend the same function, perhaps, feeling that her absence would mean disrespect to objective of the gathering. She arrived for the function 15 minutes late and this further infuriated Prince Charles. He lost his temper because it was against the tradition of the royal family to come late in such a manner. He believed that his wife had shown lack of awareness and duty for an important event. This incident was one of the many which added fuel to the fire in their souring relationship.

It has also been known that soon after the royal wedding, some people were whispering about the mismatch. The prince was 12 years older than his wife, university educated, quite intelligent and interested in classical music, arts, architecture, environment and medicine. On the other hand, Lady Diana was moody, loved solitude and was interested in charity work. Lady Diana was a person driven by her heart. She was madly in love with her husband but refused to accept his continuing affair with Camilla, whom she called 'The Rottweiler'. She also liked shopping. In fact, she spent over $4,000 a week on clothes and accessories, according to an unauthorized biographer Andrew Morton. She accumulated numerous outfits, evening gowns and many pairs of shoes. She had two full-time dressers. Lady Diana's hair-stylist who visited Kensington Palace every morning, was told not to make use of any hair spray because the prince had banned all products with chloro-flouro-carbons in the royal precincts.

Lady Diana is said to have brought glamour, excitement and even sex appeal to the staid royalty. She was not a born princess but made one.

Second Pregnancy

On the Valentine's Day in 1984 came the official announcement that the Princess Diana was pregnant again. The second pregnancy was an emotionally trying time for the young and delicate princess.

The second son of the royal couple was born on September 15, 1984. He was named Harry Charles Albert David. Lady Diana felt then that it was not appropriate to delegate the responsibility of her children to a nanny and that the two kids deserved her personal attention. The Queen consented to this more so because she thought it could improve the souring relations between Prince Charles and his wife.