Royal revelations continue ahead of Diana anniversary

IT WAS the fairytale marriage that fell apart under the scrutiny of the red tops - with damaging revelations that would rock the Royal Family for decades to come.
The Princess of Wales with her bodyguard Inspector Ken Wharfe in 1992. Photo: Martin Keene/PA WireThe Princess of Wales with her bodyguard Inspector Ken Wharfe in 1992. Photo: Martin Keene/PA Wire
The Princess of Wales with her bodyguard Inspector Ken Wharfe in 1992. Photo: Martin Keene/PA Wire

Now, further insights into the break up of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales’ marriage are revealed by her former personal protection officer in a tell-all book out today.

Rumours about the state of their marriage began with pace in 1992, when the forlorn-looking Princess was pictured sitting in front of the Taj Mahal mausoleum - Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s monument of love to his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal - during a trip to India.

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Charles was committed to his own separate itinerary at the time and was in New Delhi, where he delivered the major speech of the tour.

In his new book Guarding Diana: Protecting The Princess Around The World, ex-Met Police officer Ken Wharfe, who guarded Diana for more than five years until 1993, wrote, said: “The Princess, who told me she was genuinely upset by her husband’s refusal to join her at the Taj Mahal, had privately decided to drive home the point.”

He added when a TV journalist asked about her thoughts on the monument she turned to him for help and he advised: “Just say it is a healing experience,” and she replied to the broadcaster “It was a fascinating experience - very healing.”

The Princess gave newspapers license to interpret the remark as a comment about her marriage when, asked what she meant, she replied “Work it out for yourself,” Mr Wharfe suggested.

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During the same tour, another defining image of the couple was taken, dubbed “the kiss that missed”, when Diana turned her face away just as Charles went to kiss her during a polo trophy presentation in Jaipur.

Mr Wharfe said Diana “intentionally humiliated” Charles and later when he asked her why she had done it, the Princess replied: “’Ken, I am not about to pander to him. If he wants to make a fool out of me with that woman, he deserves it.”

Mr Wharfe also tells how a year later, Diana was left feeling triumphant after Charles was criticised over the “Camillagate” tape.

Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles’ leaked late night telephone chat gave Diana a boost as she began rebuilding her life after separating publicly from the heir to the throne, according to Mr Wharfe. The conversation, apparently recorded by an amateur radio enthusiast in 1989, was published by newspapers in 1993.

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Mr Wharfe wrote: “’Game, set and match,’ she said, clutching to her a copy of the Daily Mirror containing a transcript of the ‘Camillagate’ tape as we talked in her sitting room at Kensington Palace.

“Later, however, she told me that she had been genuinely shocked by some of the baser comments.”

Commenting on the reaction to Charles,, Mr Wharfe said: “Establishment figures normally loyal to future King and country were appalled, and some questioned the Prince’s suitability to rule.”

As the 20th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana edges closer, the revelations about her life behind the palace walls continue to fill headlines and take up prime time television slots.

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Last Sunday, the so-called ‘Diana tapes’ were broadcast for the first time in the UK on Channel 4, dividing opinion among commentators and viewers alike.

Some dubbed the tapes, recorded with her speech therapist, “trashy”, while others thought Diana speaking candidly about her troubled marriage, was “heartbreaking”.

The anniversary has also seen princes William and Harry talk about losing their mother in an ITV documentary last month.

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