The Crown season four was released this month and the central arc of the series is Charles and Diana’s marriage, how it started and how it broke down. The Netflix drama portrays the relationship as being doomed from the start, because Charles was in love with Camilla Parker Bowles. In their engagement interview, Charles bizarrely comments “whatever love means” when they were asked about their feelings for each other.
Then, just weeks before their wedding, Diana discovers he had a bracelet made for Camilla.
The Crown features numerous phone calls between Charles and Camilla in which the prince complains about Diana’s immaturity and how he longs to be with his “one true love”.
However, some royal experts have said he did love Diana, with royal photographer Kent Gavin emphasising that in the early days, there were “happy times” and they were “very much in love”.
On the flipside, Diana’s friend and healer Simone Simmons once claimed that, in a cruel twist of fate, Charles only realised he loved Diana after she died.
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Prince Charles only realised he loved Diana after she died according to Diana’s friend (Image: GETTY)
Josh O’Conner as Prince Charles and Emma Corrin as Princess Diana in The Crown (Image: Netflix)
The princess, who died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997, had been divorced from Charles for a year at this point.
Ms Simmons told the Daily Mail last year: “Charles only realised he loved her after she died.
“I don’t think he realised how much he loved Diana until she was gone.
“She was the first person who showed him real love.”
Princess Diana died in 1997 leaving behind her sons William and Harry (Image: GETTY)
She added that Diana also loved Charles and if circumstances were different they would be together today.
She claimed that the pair had the same sense of humour and shared an interest in “complementary medicine”, organic foods and organic farming.
The healer even revealed that Charles started visiting Kensington Palace more often towards the end, using “excuses” to pop in for cups or tea or to use the toilet.
She believed that, if they had given each other some space and time to heal, their affection for each other would have drawn them back together.
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Charles and Diana’s marriage broke down over the years (Image: GETTY)
Ms Simmons said: “After the divorce Charles got a very good friend in Diana because she understood him.
“Nobody is happy if their other half has affairs, but she loved Charles with all her heart.
“If they had left it ten years and then got married, I believe they would still be together today.
“They would have had their differences, but I think they may have got back together.”
She added: “I had a weird feeling they would have ended up married again.”
Tragically, Diana lost her life in a car accident in Paris, along with her companion Dodi Fayed and their driver Henri Paul, before any such reconciliation could take place.
Ms Simmons’ words are backed up by a comment from Ingrid Seward, author and editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine.
She claimed that Charles’ ideas had rubbed off on Diana and that she was very interested in climate change and the ozone layer.
The royal expert insisted that Charles did love Diana when they got married and that his love letters are testament to that.
She added that they still loved each other even after the divorce but “in a different way”.
In fact, the pair used to speak on the phone and Diana would reportedly say: “What a shame we didn’t meet each other at a different time.”
