Prince Charles and Princess Diana separated in 1992, but according to numerous sources, their marriage was doomed from the start. In his upcoming biography of Queen Elizabeth, royal author Hugo Vickers also dives into how members of the Royal Family viewed Charles and Diana’s relationship and breakup, including the late Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret.
Margaret had gone through her own divorce in 1976, splitting from her husband, Lord Snowdon, after 16 years of marriage. In a serialized version of his book in the Daily Mail, Vickers said that Princess Margaret, who died in 2002, spoke to him about her nephew Charles’s marriage as 1993 came to a close.
“The trouble was that he undermined her [Diana] consistently from the start, and gave her no support,” reportedly Margaret told Vickers of the now-King. “Then he began to get difficult over the children, which was the cause of all the trouble last year.”
The late Queen’s sister added that she knew a thing or two about being “undermined.” She told Vickers, “It was the same with me and Tony [Lord Snowdon]. He undermined me.”
Princess Margaret also spoke to the biographer about Princess Diana joining the Royal Family for Christmas at Sandringham in 1993, despite her separation from Charles. “I don’t know why she wanted to come back [to Sandringham],” she told Vickers, per the author. “I longed to tell her to go away.”
However, it was Margaret who reportedly asked her nephew if it was okay to stay friendly with Diana after their split. According to Vickers, the princess said to Charles, “‘Do you mind if I go on being friends with her?’ and he said that was fine.”
Known for her quick wit, Princess Margaret remarked on their shared situation in December 1992 as she sat alongside Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Prince Charles at Princess Anne’s wedding.
“We’ve done well. We’re all divorced,” she reportedly quipped to the brothers.
