Diana (35 page)

“There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”

“I remember I asked him once why he spent so much time with Camilla [Parker Bowles], a married woman. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘Because she is safe.’ At the time I thought the friendship was what he was talking about; that it was safe for them to be friends because she was married and no one would gossip. What I quickly came to realize was that he meant Camilla was safe because he could carry on sleeping with her and no one would suspect a thing, presumably, least of all, me. What really infuriated me was that the next time I saw Camilla, she patted me on the shoulder and told me ‘not to worry’ about her. I thought about it later and it was obvious Charles had told her I was worried about her. He
told that woman everything. I didn’t just marry Charles; I married his mistress too. There was nothing that went on in my marriage she didn’t know about.”

After a dinner at Buckingham Palace: “The Queen stressed the importance of making the marriage work. She told me Charles was willing to give it another go. I promised I would do my best. But I insisted he end his friendship with Camilla. I remember the Queen looking at me over her glasses and saying, ‘Why are you so concerned about Camilla? All men have certain urges. Camilla is married, she is no threat to you. Try to put her out of your head. You have nothing to concern yourself with there, my dear.’”

“I was [aware of Charles’s relationship with Camilla], but I wasn’t in a position to do anything about it.” The evidence? “Oh, a woman’s instinct is a very good one…. Well, I had, obviously I had knowledge of it … from people who minded and
cared about our marriage. [But I could tell Charles was being unfaithful] by the change of behavioral pattern in my husband; for all sorts of reasons that a woman’s instinct produces; you just know.”

“The Camilla thing reared its head the whole way through our engagement, and I was desperately trying to be mature about the situation, but I didn’t have the foundations to do it, and I couldn’t talk to anyone about it.”

Diana often referred to Camilla as “the Rottweiler.”

“The Rottweiler is the main reason why I’m going through this hell. I honestly believe if [Camilla] disappeared, I would at least have a chance to try and make Charles love me. But with that woman around, I have no chance. He’s not even thinking about me; all he cares about is Camilla.”

“What I simply cannot understand is what he sees in [Camilla]. I mean, she’s hardly an oil painting. And she is so blunt and rude. What the hell has she got that I haven’t?”

On finding the four-poster bed she and Charles had shared was unmade, the sheets crumpled and slept in, the Princess then ran into the spare bedrooms; none was disturbed. “I was hysterical. It was clear the main bed,
our
bed,
my
marital bed, had been slept in by two people. I went downstairs and screamed at him for sleeping with that woman in my bed. He wouldn’t answer. I was shouting at him and crying but he wouldn’t say anything. I kept asking him why he was bonking her. It was the worst moment ever. I felt like it was all over. I knew for sure he was sleeping with that bitch. I seriously thought about topping myself there and then. I knew there was no chance. I knew he loved her and not me—and always had done.”

The media constantly compared her with Camilla. “It’s all so meaningless,” she said despairingly.

At last, she confronted Camilla: “Why don’t you just leave my husband alone?”