If Prince Harry was considering reconciliation between himself and his estranged father King Charles, the window of possibility may have been slammed shut once more.
On Friday, previously unheard tapes secretly recorded by Princess Diana in the early 1990s were released, and in them, the late royal made a jaw-dropping claim about her ex-husband. Recorded decades ago for author Andrew Morton, who wrote Diana: Her True Story— In Her Own Words using the tapes, Diana claimed Charles vocalized “disappointment” in Prince Harry’s birth during a conversation with her mother Frances Shand Kydd.
“At Harry’s christening, Charles went up to mummy and said: ‘We’re so disappointed, thought it would be a girl,'” the late princess recalled. “Mummy snapped his head off and said, ‘You should realise how lucky you are to have a child that’s normal.'” Diana added, “Ever since that day, the shutters have come down. That’s what he does when he gets somebody answering back at him.”
This excerpt from the tapes, among other never-before-heard insights into Diana’s life as a member of the royal family, will potentially be included in an upcoming documentary about the late princess set to release next year. Diana recorded approximately seven hours of testimony for Morton while she was still married to then-Prince Charles, and much of the tapes was kept private until 2017 when the documentary Diana: In Her Own Words aired.
Tom Jennings, who produced both the 2017 documentary and the upcoming one (which is meant to serve as a follow-up to the first), spoke to ABC about the use of the tapes for the documentaries. “When the first film came out, people were blown away because they had not heard Diana talk like this before,” he said. “It’s a style of storytelling that is very difficult to do, but I think it is the closest thing to the truth that you can get because nothing gets in your way. It is important as part of Diana’s legacy to allow more of those tapes to be heard,” Jennings opined.
Morton originally used the tapes to publish Diana: Her True Story in 1992, and Diana’s involvement with the book was a secret at the time. The claims made in the book about the princess’ unhappiness in her marriage, the depression she battled as a royal, and her suicide attempts were so damaging to the royal family that the book was widely banned from being sold in the UK — with no one knowing Diana was the direct source for the tell-all. After her death in 1997, Morton re-released the book with an updated title. Diana: Her True Story — In Her Words included transcripts of his conversations with the late princess, revealing her to be his collaborator.
Diana: Her True Story — In Her Own Words by Andrew Morton chronicles the beloved Princess of Wales’ marriage to Prince Charles, her relationship with Queen Elizabeth II, and so much more. It’s a completely unfiltered perspective that still resonates to this day. For any longtime royal fan, this is a must-have addition to their bookshelf.
Before you go, click here to revisit more movies about Princess Diana.
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