The 11 words that nearly ruined the royal family

Twenty-five years ago, a youthful Prince Charles stared down the barrel of a TV camera and uttered a sentence that would almost ruin his life.

Prince Charles likes a kilt. Up until about two-thirds of the way through the feature-length 1994 documentary Charles: The Private Man, the Public Role, the biggest take away is how much the future King likes flashing his knees (and god knows what else under there) when he is in Scotland, gadding about in some tartan.

At the time the doco aired, it had been two years since Diana, Princess of Wales had secretly collaborated with Andrew Morton on his bombshell book, Diana: Her True Story in June 1992 (and which is still in print).

Then, in November of that year, the Camillagate tapes in which the future Commander of the Armed Forces and Defender of the Faith said he would love to be Camilla’s tampon, had been published.

A month later, in December 1992, then prime minister John Major stood up in parliament to announce that the Prince and Princess of Wales were officially separating. Suffice to say it was a big year.

So by 1994, the so-called War of Wales was in full, destructive swing. Public sympathy was firmly on the side of Diana who had perfected the doe-eyed innocent’s gaze whenever she encountered the press while occasionally whispering titbits in the ears of sympathetic media outlets. (Don’t worry, Charles was up to the same thing.)

Diana and Charles had an unhappy marriage. Picture: Arthur Edwards

However, an awkward 45-year-old guy whose hairline was already receding rapidly and whose love interest was a chain-smoking posh woman who loved to hunt, wasn’t exactly winning the PR war.

Thus, a counter-attack was planned: Charles would take part in a substantive TV doco (and accompanying biography) done by sympathetic journalist Jonathon Dimbleby.

The plan should have been a good one — theoretically, this would humanise Charles and portray him as a doting single father, committed future leader of the Commonwealth and all around good egg.

Back to the doco. Things are going swimmingly — so much kilt action and a lot of Harry and Wills playing soccer in stiffly ironed jeans — when, an hour and a bit in, Dimbleby asks Charles if he had been “faithful and honourable” during his marriage to Diana.

Charles, looking deeply uncomfortable on a chintz sofa, responded, “Yes, absolutely.”

Dimbleby pushed on: “And were you?”

And then, the killer blow: “Yes, until it became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried.”

Charles in his tell-all interview. Picture: Supplied

While today, when Charles and Camilla amble around the world holding hands like two uncomfortably libidinous septuagenarians in co-ordinating linen, this hardly seems that shocking, at the time this was the equivalent of a nuclear detonation.

It was the first time long-running rumours of infidelity on the Prince’s part had been unequivocally confirmed.

The consequences for his image were disastrous with the immediate impression that he had inadvertently totally scuppered his chances of ever becoming King.

His image was in tatters and there was speculation that the Queen would pass the Crown on to Prince William rather than her son.

(Charles did not admit that the woman he had cheated with was Camilla until later. At the time he told Dimbleby that “Mrs Parker Bowles” was “a great friend”.)

Charles and Camilla are happily married now — but in 1994, new of their affair sparked a worldwide scandal. Picture: Hugo Burnand/AFP

Rather than humanising him, the interview had indelibly branded a scarlet A on his chest.

“In one stroke, he’s wiped out all the good will he’s built up over 12 months,” former BBC reporter and royal biographer Bryan Hoey is reported to have said.

Part of the reason was religious. Fourteen million people in the UK had tuned into the broadcast to watch a man admit he had committed adultery which was widely seen as inherently incompatible to his future role as head of the Church of England.

In a telephone poll set up by The Sun the day after the revelation aired, two-thirds of respondents said that Charles’ indiscretions meant he was not fit to be King.

Charles and Diana had one of the most public divorces in history. Picture: Supplied

Quite why Charles took such a momentous gamble and bared his soul on prime time telly is still up for debate. One argument is that he thought that his honesty would earn him the respect of the British people and substantially improve his image long term.

The inadequacy of that thinking is blatant now.

“I don’t know why he answered,” his deputy private secretary at the time Stephen Lambport told royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith. “He did and that was the upshot. He would have answered as he felt was right and honest.”

It would take nearly a decade for Charles’ reputation and standing to improve (and 11 years before he wed Camilla).

The same night the documentary aired, Diana arrived at the Serpentine Gallery summer party in a black Christina Stambolian cocktail dress that immediately achieved icon status.

Diana’s iconic revenge dress. Picture: Jayne Fincher/Getty Images

Diana stepped out looking sexy as hell the night Charles’ interview aired. Picture: Jayne Fincher/Getty Images

Never had a public rejoinder been so powerful or so cunning (or so chic). With one frock, the Princess had delivered a devastating blow to Charles’ already tattered image, her sexy look making her seem powerful and commanding and consequently making him seem even more weak and ineffectual.

Twenty-five years later, the picture has dramatically shifted. Charles is largely seen as a caring dad, and has the woman he has always loved by his side.

The bigger question is how history will remember Charles. No matter what future generations learn about the Queen Elizabeth’s son, his 1994 interview will never be forgotten.

Daniela Elser is a royal expert and freelance writer with 20 years’ experience who has written for some of Australia’s best print and digital media brands.