Princess Diana divorce details written in letters

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing a yellow and navy blue dress and jacket designed by Catherine Walker and a hat by Philip Somerville, visit the National Cemetery

(Image credit: Anwar Hussein / Contributor Getty)

By Selina Maycock published 23 December 20

Princess Diana divorce details were written inside letters she penned to family friend.
The letters which are set to be auctioned off were sent to Roger Bramble between 1990 and 1997.
In other royal news, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Christmas plans dashed - so how will they celebrate?

Princess Diana wrote about her divorce from Prince Charles in personal letters written to a family friend.

The late Princess Di, regularly communicated with Roger Bramble and now the unseen letters have surfaced as they prepare to be auctioned off.

It comes as Diana is portrayed in the popular Netflix drama The Crown, which has sparked interest from fans across the globe.

There are 36 unearthed letters in the collection which span a seven-year period and they are expected to fetch £30,000 at auction when they go up at the auctioneers on March 18th 2021.

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Tucked away in a farmhouse cupboard, it's the first time the content details of the letters have come to light.

At the time, Diana's 'warm and caring' correspondence with family friend Roger Bramble covered the period of her divorce from Princes Charles, with whom she was married to from 1981 to 1996. Prince Charles and Diana's wedding was watched by approximately 750 million people across the world.

And within the letters she told him their lunch together was a 'much welcomed distraction from the mundane activities that are associated with an impending divorce!'

On October 10, 1996, she revealed that their lunch together was the first time she had been taken out for a meal by someone since the official break-up. She wrote: 'It is the first time that Diana, Princess of Wales has actually been taken out to lunch since August 28th - I am very selective!' She also shared with him the 'ghastly week' she endured following the publication of Andrew Morton's 1993 biography which revealed she had attempted suicide.

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing a white Murray Arbeid dress and Queen Mary;s diamond and pearl tiara, attend a dinner

Diana, who has two sons Prince William and Prince Harry with Charles, wrote the letters to reveal her witty and intelligent hand with a great generosity of spirit.

The David Lay auctioneer website explained, "The recipient believes his place in her story was only as a constant, always independent of what else might have been happening at the same time. He had known the Princess since childhood and has now given the letters to a younger relation to handle as he sees fit. We are fortunate that this person has now decided to share these letters with the wider public. In his words:

"I certainly cannot bring myself to destroy or even archive and forget such a valuable treasure trove from the hand of such an influential person. We have our memories and I very much hope these original and delightful letters will give the new owners the same enjoyment and, before the sale, help the public to learn more about the Princess as a real person rather than relying solely on contemporary portrayals of her life."

Selina Maycock

Selina is a Senior Entertainment Writer with more than 14 years of experience in newspapers and magazines. She currently looks after all things Entertainment for GoodtoKnow, Woman&Home and My Imperfect Life.

Before joining Future Publishing, Selina graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2006 with a degree in Journalism. She is fully NCTJ and NCE qualified and has 100wpm shorthand. Having spent the start of her career working on local newspapers and online, Selina spent six years as Acting News Editor and Entertainment Reporter at the Scunthorpe Telegraph where she dug into hard news stories, conducted interviews, covered court reporting, features, and entertainment, whilst going to gigs in her spare time.

Whilst at the paper she was awarded an O2 Media Judges' Special Award for helping a terminally ill cancer sufferer realise his dying wish and marry his childhood sweetheart through a successful newspaper campaign. Things like this are close to her heart when it comes to using journalism to make a positive difference in people's lives.

Selina later branched further into all things celebrity to became a Showbiz Writer at Heat magazine, covering red carpet events, showbiz parties, and various launches before going freelance for two years. One of her biggest celebrity achievements - aside from generating celebrity exclusives - was interviewing Take That (including Robbie Williams) and bumping into Simon Cowell so much at events she told him 'I'm calling you my showbiz dad!'

In 2017 she joined TI Media as a senior reporter on Woman, Woman's Own, Woman&Home, Woman's Weekly celebrity desk before branching online in 2020 when Future gave her the opportunity to focus on digital-first.

When she's not interviewing celebrities you can find her exploring new countryside walking routes, catching up with friends over good food, or making memories.