Following Diana's "confrontation" with her grandmother-in-law, relations between the pair deteriorated even further according to Russell, with the Queen Mother reportedly referring to Diana as "a liar," and the princess retaliating by calling the aged monarch "the chief leper in the leper colony."
Arbiter said: “Diana and the Queen shared a warm relationship. The Queen found emotional problems difficult – that's her generation.” She also explained that the Queen had asked the press to give Diana her space.
According to Seward in The Queen & Di, although Elizabeth was initially sympathetic to Diana, eventually the stoic monarch felt that the emotional Princess was simply too much to handle.
According to Andrew Morton's 1992 biography, Diana: Her True Story—In Her Own Words, Diana's relationship with the queen was friendly—at least in comparison to her relationship with the Queen Mother, who kept her at arm's length.
Tatler reports that Margaret sent Diana a “wounding and excoriating” letter, saying the Princess of Wales was “incapable of making even the smallest sacrifice.” The two were no longer on speaking terms.
Having married into the royal family in 1947, Philip — who died on April 9, 2021, at age 99 — could understand the difficulties of being an "outsider" in the world's most famous family. He was also "initially charmed" by the beautiful, fun-loving princess as she struggled to adapt to her new position in life.
Then, as the funeral cortege passed by, the queen respectfully bowed her head while Margaret gave the most cursory of nods, looking for all the world like she wanted to be elsewhere. She never forgave Diana for what she saw as her betrayal of the royal family, not even in death.
"The Queen Mother was baffled by the outpouring of grief at the Princess's death, which she thought more effusive than anything she had seen when the city was being pummelled nightly by Nazi bombs during the Blitz."
According to Seward in The Queen & Di, although Elizabeth was initially sympathetic to Diana, eventually the stoic monarch felt that the emotional Princess was simply too much to handle.
On the death of Princess Diana: Sept.
“I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness.
Did Princess Margaret oppose the marriage of Charles and Diana? In "The Crown": Princess Margaret tries to persuade Charlies not to marry Diana. In real life: There's no evidence that Margaret (or anyone else) was against the marriage of Diana and Charles.
What were Princess Diana's last words? The firefighter on the scene of Princess Diana's accident revealed the last words she spoke before her death in an interview with The Independent. According to the firefighter, Xavier Gourmelon, the Princess of Wales asked: “My God, what has happened?”
Though it seems almost comically old fashioned now, the fact that Camilla had a dating history was a major strike against her. "The conventions of the time called for the heir to the British throne to marry a woman who at least appeared to be virginal," writes Bedell Smith.
It is known that before the Queen, who is the symbol of national unity, everyone bowed. "But that day, it is Elizabeth who bowed her head as a sign of respect for the passage of Diana's coffin, the woman who wore more than anyone else had defied the conventions of the palace."
She called him 'The One'
It was love at first sight for Diana when she met Dr. Khan for the first time in 1995 at the Royal Brompton Hospital. He was treating her healer Oonagh Shanley-Toffolo's husband, who had suffered a massive hemorrhage during his triple bypass operation.
Hasnat Khan, a Pakistani heart surgeon, and Princess Diana dated for two years, from 1995 to 1997. Diana reportedly described him as the "love of her life" to friends, and introduced him to her sons Prince William and Prince Harry.
But throughout Princess Diana and the then Prince of Wales's 20-year odyssey, there were moments of real affection, no matter how fleeting. “We fell in love gradually,” Princess Diana told biographer Andrew Morton. “It wasn't really dramatic. One blink and it would have gone.”
JFYI: Even though Diana and Camilla's tense lunch scene felt almost too wild to be true, the women in Prince Charles's life really did hang out. Here's the true story of Princess Diana and Camilla's relationship—and that awkward meeting.
Late Queen at Diana's funeral
Respecting the feelings that the public had for Diana, Queen Elizabeth walked out of the palace with her husband Prince Philip and saw the flowers and messages that people left outside the palace.
Actors Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, and Tom Hanks were among the mourners at the funeral. Michael famously "bawled his eyes out" at the funeral.
The royals only recently opened up publicly about the tragedy. In the years following Princess Diana's fatal car crash on August 31, 1997, her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, remained notably silent about her tragic death, refusing to make any sort of official statement about their grief.
Prince Charles, also at Balmoral with William and Harry , was told at 4:30 a.m. by the queen's private secretary (and Diana's brother-in-law) Robert Fellowes—following Fellowes' call to Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital for an update—that the princess had succumbed to her injuries. "He was absolutely distraught.
"Without William, Kate would curtsy to Camilla; with him, she would not," the source continued. "That's unless Prince Charles is present, in which case she would." The order of curtsying, however, can change. This could happen when people marry into the family.
They did this to avoid the nearly thirty photographers waiting in front of the hotel. Diana and Fayed were the rear passengers; Trevor Rees-Jones, a member of the Fayed family's personal protection team, was in the (right) front passenger seat. None of the occupants were wearing seat belts.
Prince Philip reportedly wrote a series of letters to Diana at this point which “upset and infuriated” the princess. In one, he reportedly told her that her “irrational” behavior and jealousy were to blame for many of her marital problems with Charles.