How Diana’s Shocking Death Transformed Prince Charles’ Life 》

It’s no secret that Prince Charles didn’t have a great marriage to Princess Diana. The two of them had a very public falling out, and it became common knowledge that Charles was having an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. All of this culminated in the last thing the Royal Family ever wanted: a messy divorce.

Because of this, you might think that the sudden death of Diana was an event that made Charles feel free and liberated. In reality, though, her death transformed his life for the worse in many ways, including some that continue to harm his reputation. Just how did Diana’s death transform Charles’ life and make him into the man he is today? Keep reading to find out!

Becoming a single father

Perhaps the most notable way that Diana’s death transformed Charles’ life is that he became a single father overnight. At the time, William was 15 and Harry was 12, and they were used to having both parents as a major part of their lives. Just like that, they were stuck with only Charles, and he apparently wasn’t ready for the challenge of solo parenting.

As reported by Newsweek, Harry later spoke up about his father’s challenges at this time during an interview with Charles Bransby. “I never want to be in that position, part of the reason why we are here now,” he said. “I never, ever want to be in that position. I don’t want history to repeat itself. I do not want to be a single dad. And I certainly don’t want my children to have a life without a mother or a father.”

It seems like Harry blames his dad’s solo parenting years for their current strained relationship. Based on this, we can only assume Charles had a rough time!

Getting on the Queen’s bad side

These days, Charles is the King of England. But when Diana died, Elizabeth was very much alive. And the death of his ex-wife forces Charles to make some very difficult decisions that may not have made his famous mother happy. According to journalist Richard Kay (as reported by the Mirror), “Charles wanted to take the royal flight to Paris, but the Queen wouldn’t allow it. Charles fought harder for Diana than he had ever fought for her in her lifetime.”

Even though Buckingham Palace later denied them, there were also persistent rumors that Queen Elizabeth objected to Princess Diana getting a royal funeral, preferring that she get a private funeral instead. However, Diana ended up getting a very stately funeral at Westminster Abbey that was attended by thousands, which may very well be a powerful indicator of how much Charles wanted to honor her in death (even if he had trouble honoring her in life).

Delaying his marriage plans

Charles didn’t marry Camilla Parker Bowles until 2005. That seemed shocking to many casual observers because the two had been seeing each other for decades until then. Infamously, Camilla was the other woman helping to wreck Charles’ marriage nearly from the beginning. Why, then, did they wait so long to officially tie the knot?

Part of the reason was that Charles couldn’t marry Camilla until after his divorce (which required the reluctant blessing of the Queen) from Diana was finalized. Originally, Charles was set to make his relationship with Camilla public (a necessary precursor to marriage) on his 50th birthday in 1997. But after Diana died, he decided going public about his relationship with the other woman would have been disrespectful to his wife’s memory.

Things worked out, of course: not only did Charles marry Camilla, but they now serve as the King and Queen of the Royal Family. But their marriage was delayed for the better part of a decade because of Diana’s untimely death.

Diana continues to haunt Charles

Few grieved the death of Diana more than Charles, and he had to simultaneously deal with some big emotions while raising two young boys. Still, you might think that after a while, the memory of Diana would no longer be able to haunt Charles. However, she continues to haunt him where it hurts the most: his reputation!

To this day, the public overwhelmingly sides with Diana (affectionately nicknamed “the People’s Princess”) over Charles. So whenever a documentary or TV show (like the hit series The Crown) comes on that features the princess, it stirs up angry online comments directed at Charles. This public sentiment against him is so bad that many brought up his treatment of Diana when it was revealed that Charles had cancer.

The public loved Diana so much that they chose the cancer over Charles? That’s gotta hurt!