It comes as no surprise—especially for Royals fans—that Princess Diana and Prince Charles had a rather complex marriage.
But a new novel by royal biographer Ingrid Seward claims that Princess Diana had apparently spoken with her about Prince Charles‘ less-than-affectionate childhood and opened up about how it supposedly affected their marriage.
The book, Prince Philip Revealed, certainly offers plenty to learn about Prince Philip but also sheds light on his son, Prince Charles, too.
According to Seward, Diana explained that Charles’s unusual upbringing manifested itself in his inability to show physical affection and that he “couldn’t be tactile with his own wife.”
“Diana reckoned that if Charles had been brought up in the normal fashion, he would have been better able to handle his and her emotions,” Seward wrote.
Seward also claimed that Diana called it “emotional retentiveness”, writing that the only form of affection Charles ever received from his parents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, were handshakes—not hugs.
“Instead, she said, his feelings seemed to have been suffocated at birth,” Seward continued. “According to her, he never had any hands-on love from his parents. Only his nannies showed him affection but that, as Diana explained, was not the same as being kissed and cuddled by your parents, which Charles never was. When he met his parents, they didn’t embrace: they shook hands.”
Seward went onto note that even for the time and their royal titles, Elizabeth and Philip were unusually distant.
“Even when judged by the standards of the time, Philip and Elizabeth saw remarkably little of their offspring,” Seward finished.
Due to his duties as a naval officer, Philip was often away from his family. And according to Seward, he was only home for two of Charles’s first eight birthday celebrations. She also mentioned that once during Charles’ infancy, Elizabeth and Philip left him and his younger sister, Princess Anne, in England as they spent Christmas in Malta.
Continuing to summarise Diana’s supposed sentiments, Seward continued, “Only his nannies showed him affection but that, as Diana explained, was not the same as being kissed and cuddled by your parents, which Charles never was. When he met his parents, they didn’t embrace: they shook hands.”
Ultimately, it’s easy to see how this added yet another layer to their already-complex relationship.
Ingrid Seward’s Prince Philip Revealed is set to be released in October 2020.
