Princess Diana continues to make headlines, from her iconic style moments and meaningful breaks with royal protocol to her powerful words of advice.
The late Princess of Wales’ struggles within the royal family are well documented, particularly amid her separation from Prince Charles in 1992.
However, according to royal expert Gyles Brandreth, the late Princess of Wales had a friend and fatherly figure in Prince Philip, with his words about their sweet friendship resurfacing this week.
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“When things were difficult, [Prince Philip] wrote to Diana – kind letters, concerned, fatherly, loving letters from Pa, explaining how [he] knew, firsthand, the difficulties involved in marrying into the Royal Family,” the royal expert explained in his 2021 book, Philip: The Final Portrait, via the Daily Mail.
“Philip’s letters to Diana were typical of his correspondence overall,” he continued. “They were sympathetic, but unsentimental, direct, but to a purpose.
“Philip confronted his daughter-in-law with home truths,” Brandreth added. “He invited her to face the facts. Essentially he wanted to make Diana think about her marriage, long and hard. And he did.
“When Diana received the letters she was at her most vulnerable and volatile,” the royal expert later explained. “As soon as one arrived, she opened it, scanned it, usually burst immediately into tears and then shared it, as soon as possible, with her closest friends.”
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Prince Philip and Princess Diana’s friendship was not publicly known at the time, with Brandreth even talking to the late Duke of Edinburgh about the misconceptions around it.
“The public view of you, for what it’s worth, is of a grouchy old man, unsympathetic to his daughter-in-law,” Brandreth recalled, adding: “the impression the public has got is unfair.”
“I’ve just got to live with it,” Prince Philip reportedly responded. “It happens to a lot of people.”
We will continue to update this story.