Letter from King Charles after Princess Diana’s 1997 death released for first time

A poignant letter from King Charles, expressing his grief four months after Princess Diana’s death, has emerged for the first time in 27 years.

Just four months after Princess Diana was tragically killed in a car accident, King Charles penned a letter detailing “unbearable emptiness” in the wake of his wife’s death.

In the newly revealed note from 1997, the monarch wrote to his friend Peter about the passing of “dear Liz” to illness and that his heart “bleeds” for his friend’s loss.

Charles then went on to say he empathised with his “agony,” confessing that he “longed to wave a magic wand to transform the situation” and be rid of the “bewilderment and confusion that accompanies the removal of someone so young from the world.”

He also quoted the Bible passage from 1 Corinthians 13:12, writing: “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face-to-face.”

The true identities of Peter and Liz are as yet unclear to royal experts.

The three-page note, handwritten on Highgrove House letterhead and dated December 8, 1997, was signed simply “Charles.”

It was then placed in an envelope and delivered “by hand” to the recipient, following the instructions of the then-Prince.

A handwritten letter by King Charles to friends after Princess Diana's death is up for auction. Picture: RR Auction

The letter was written three months after Diana’s passing. Picture: RR Auction

RR Auction recently presented the letter in Boston at a starting bid of £1500 ($A2945), with the bidding closing on August 14.

“This lengthy handwritten letter to ‘Peter’ expresses his sympathy upon the death of a loved one,” an RR Auction spokesperson said.

“Charles was likely particularly emotional at the time he wrote the letter, as Princess Diana had tragically passed away just a few months before in August 1997.”

Diana, 36, was killed in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997.

The full letter read: “I have been thinking so much of you yesterday and today, knowing how deeply you will be affected by yesterday’s tragic news about dear Liz.

“My heart bleeds for you as I can imagine so well the utter agony and despair you must have gone through during all these heart-rendering months that you have known about Liz’s illness.

“All of us who know you-and are so fond you both-have felt the agony in a far lesser way of course, but have longed to wave a magic wand to transform the situation.

“I often think that that is the worst part of all-being unable to help in any constructive way except to say constant prayers in the background & to try and surround you both with love & affection & concern.

Princess Diana and King Charles when they were engaged. Picture: Getty Images

“I can so well imagine the unbearable emptiness you must feel at this time; the sense of bewilderment & confusion that accompanies the removal of someone still so young from this world.

“Personally, I believe that there is another dimension beyond this physical one & that we will be amazed to discover it for ourselves when we are eventually - or at a moment – called upon to make that certain journey for ourselves.

“As it says in the Bible — ‘Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face-to-face’.

“I can’t tell you how pleased & happy I am to have known Liz. She was such a great life-enhancer.

“We shall all have such special memories of her but, above all, Peter, we mind about you & you are so very much in my thoughts and prayers at this most anguishing of times.

“I thought you might just find a very small speck of comfort from this short piece of profoundly wise verse by William Blake and, together with this, I enclose a few ‘Highgrove things’ as a token of immense, affectionate sympathy.”

CHARLES IN HUGE ROW WITH WILLIAM OVER NEW THREAT

King Charles has clashed with Prince William after the future king refused to stop flying his entire family in a helicopter, it has been claimed.

The monarch made his eldest son sign a “waiver” taking responsibility for threatening the succession by taking to the air with Princess Catherine and their children, according to a leading royal expert.

King Charles is said to have reiterated the concerns of the late Queen Elizabeth following his cancer diagnosis after a defiant Prince William ­continued to ignore an unwritten rule barring senior royals from taking to the air together, The Sun reports.

Prince William with Prince George at UEFA EURO 2024 final match between Spain and England in Berlin. Picture: Getty Images

King Charles has issued a warning to Prince William, a royal expert claims. Picture: AFP

A flight disaster for the Cambridges would put exiled royal Prince Harry on the throne.

Trained RAF pilot Prince William has previously flown his wife and three children from Kensington Palace in London to their family home in Anmer Hall, Norfolk.

In his upcoming biography Catherine, The Princess of Wales, Robert Jobson writes: “After being diagnosed with cancer, King Charles, perhaps reminded of his own mortality, echoed his late mother’s concerns.

Trained RAF pilot Prince William loves to fly helicopters. Picture: AFP

“When William refused to stop flying with his family, Charles insisted that he sign a formal document, acknowledging the risks involved and taking full responsibility for his actions.”

Mr Jobson added: “It would be scant consolation, of course, for an unspeakable tragedy, let alone for the prospect of King Harry and Queen Meghan.”

A flight disaster could put Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on the throne. Picture: Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation

It comes after King Charles and his mother both suffered helicopter scares.

The late Queen Elizabeth’s Sikorsky S-76 suffered a fault in August 2021 and a flight was aborted.

Elsewhere in the book, Princess Catherine is praised as having a “stabilising influence” on William — particularly when it comes to tensions between the prince and his father.

A source told Jobson that Catherine “is somebody who always tries to see both sides of any dispute” and is the “emotionally mature” one in their relationship.

King Charles also values Kate’s positive effect on his eldest son, according to the book. “I think the [King] understands Catherine is a good influence on the entire family. He loves and truly appreciates everything she does,” a courtier said.

Originally published as Letter from King Charles after Princess Diana’s 1997 death released for first time