Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana reportedly had a complicated relationship with each other. And things took a turn for the worse right before Princess Diana sat down for an interview with Martin Bashir in 1995. At the time, Prince William and Prince Harry's mom was already separated from King Charles, but they have not officially divorced.
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Princess Diana Wanted Queen Elizabeth To Put An End To King Charles' Affair, But She Didn't?
In the book The Queen: Her Life, royal author Andrew Morton discussed Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana's relationship in detail. He suggested that the former in-laws never saw eye-to-eye, especially when it came to King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla's affair.
Even though the Queen did not necessarily approve of King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla's relationship, she never tried to end it. And this reportedly upset Princess Diana.
"At this delicate period, the olive branch was ever-present. The Queen and the Queen Mother had shown their disapproval of this long-running affair by refusing to invite Mrs. Parker Bowles to any court functions. It was, as far as Diana was concerned, not enough," Morton said (via New Idea).
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Queen Elizabeth Urged Princess Diana And King Charles To Divorce After The Panorama Interview?
As a result, Princess Diana decided to sit down for an interview with Panorama. And it was during her conversation with Bashir that she declared that they were three of them in her marriage.
According to Morton, Princess Diana's revelations upset Queen Elizabeth. And it forced the late monarch to put her foot down and urge King Charles and Princess Diana to end their marriage legally.
"When the Queen finally watched a recording of the show, she was despairing, her husband apoplectic. Something had to be done, for the sake of not just the monarchy but also their grandchildren. The Queen, having held out the olive branch for so long, was now determined to cut the marital Gordian knot," Morton said.
Queen Elizabeth Stopped Extending An Olive Branch To Princess Diana After She Declined Her Invitation?
But even after Princess Diana and King Charles' divorce was finalized, the Queen continued to extend her good graces to the mom of two. She reportedly invited Princess Diana to celebrate Christmas with the royal family, but the late royal declined her invitation. According to Morton, this served as the final straw for the Queen.
"The princess's decision to decline the sovereign's invitation, normally viewed as a command, marked the nadir of her relationship with the Queen. It was an affront to many. From now on, the Queen was not always available to take her phone calls or ready to invite her to afternoon tea. Their dealings were necessarily more business-like than before as the Queen was one of the interested parties in divorce negotiations," Morton said.
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