Princess Diana admitted that she had feelings of “trepidation” about what the future would hold in store for her after she divorced Charles, newly published correspondence reveals.
Diana made the admission in a letter to the chairman of the Royal New Zealand Foundation for The Blind, explaining why she was resigning as patron of the charity. The letter, typed on Kensington Palace headed notepaper, is being auctioned by Julien’s Auctions and Turner Classic Movies in Beverly Hills next month.
It is dated July 15, 1996 – a month before the then Prince and Princess of Wales officially divorced. Diana died a little more than a year later on Sunday, 31 August 1997, in a car crash in Paris.
The Royal couple’s separation had been announced a few years earlier, on December 9, 1992. During her marriage to man who is now our king, the late Princess held over 100 patronages for charities and organisations around the world.
However, she resigned from most of the roles, and relinquished all her military appointments, after her divorce. Her letter of resignation to the Royal New Zealand Foundation for The Blind reads: “It has been a great privilege for me to serve as your Patron and it has always been my wish that I should do so wholeheartedly and to the best of my ability.
“Therefore it is with great sadness that I write to you in order to explain matters which have now become apparent.
“As you know, my personal circumstances, in particular my marriage to The Prince of Wales, have been the subject of detailed conjecture in recent months, and this will soon be formalised in the normal legal manner.
“Although I am embarking upon the future with hope, I also do so with some trepidation since there are a number of matters which I shall need to resolve.
“It is for this reason that I am writing in order to resign my current role as Patron with you. As I seek to re-organise my life it will not be possible for me to provide you with the right level of commitment and I feel that there may be someone else better suited to support you in all that you do.”
The letter will be auction as part of the “Legends: Hollywood and Royalty” sale, alongside several of her outfits. The auction also features more than 1,000 rare objects synonymous with famous cultural figures.
Darren Julien, founder of the auction house, said: “We look forward to celebrating the beloved people’s princess, one of the most photographed women in the world, who changed the monarchy forever and whose persona continues to captivate the public and Hollywood today through tributes and film and television works about her life.”
