Diana’s staff sought to upstage Charles, new documents show

Cillian Sherlock and Ian Lloyd, The Independent

Diana, Princess of Wales, was considered "far more" adept at navigating the media landscape than Charles, then Prince of Wales, newly-declassified documents have revealed.

The documents from the National Archives of Ireland reveal that Diana’s staff were actively engaged in "upstaging" St James' Palace during their highly publicised separation.

These files also shed light on Charles's two-day visit to Ireland in June 1995, following his 1992 split from Diana.

His inner circle reportedly viewed the extensive coverage of this trip as a crucial component of a "long-term public relations strategy to rehabilitate the Prince in the eyes of the British public" in the wake of their high-profile divorce.

Charles’s press team, led by press secretary Alan Percival and his successor Sandy Henney, had reported to Irish officials that they felt the visit to Ireland was “the best public outing the Prince has had in a very long time”.

Ms Henney was described in the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs’ document as “fiercely loyal” to Charles and “alive to every opportunity to advance his cause”.

A Department of Foreign Affairs note shows officials were unsure if she was joking when she suggested that Diana may also want to visit Ireland. “Henney (who would have been less aware of the political dimension than the more restrained Percival) told me that if she had any say in it the Prince would be here again before the summer was out,” according to the document.

“She also remarked that if practice to date was any guide we could shortly expect an approach from Princess Diana!” Department of Foreign Affairs official Joe Hayes added: “I took this as a joke until she repeated it and assured me that in the media battle between the two, the Princess was by far the more predatory and skilled and her staff devoted a great deal of time to finding ways and means of upstaging St James’ Palace.”

Charles’ officials agreed with the Irish diplomats that coverage of the visit in the UK was, while positive, “relatively light” compared with that in Ireland.

It was noted by officials on both sides of the Irish Sea that, in contrast with the blanket coverage in Ireland, the coverage of the visit in the UK was “though positive, relatively light” in tone.

It was earlier reported that, it’s often said there was only one Diana. Arguably, there were more than half a dozen versions of the woman who blazed through our lives like a comet from the first sighting of her in the summer of 1980 until her untimely end, just seventeen years later. Firstly there was “shy Di”, the earl’s daughter, who giggled and blushed her way into everyone’s hearts when she started dating the heir to the throne. With her pie crust collars, frilly dresses and pearls she epitomised the Sloane Ranger look and, for the first time, found herself a fashion influencer.

In theory she was the ideal choice for a royal bride. Both her grandmothers — Ruth Fermoy and Cynthia Spencer — had been appointed ladies in waiting to the Queen Mother. Her father John “Johnny” Spencer had been an equerry to the Queen at the start of her reign.

Her perfect pedigree masked an insecure personality, dating back to her parent’s divorce when she was seven years old. Just a few days before the royal wedding at St Paul’s Cathedral, Diana, agitated by all the press interest, burst into tears at a polo match in Hampshire. It was a worrying foretaste of things to come.

I first encountered Diana when I started out as a photographer in the mid-80s. This was the second Diana, the mother of two small boys and still very much part of a strong team with her husband. She was evolving her own style, relaxed and happy with the crowds who flocked to see her, chatting about her sons and happy to shake hands with her fans. It was the start of a new type of monarchy — empathetic, sensitive and able to communicate with people from all walks of life. I lost count of the number of times, particularly on walkabouts, when the crowd would scream for Diana and groan when she swapped to talk to the fans on the opposite side and they had to make do with Charles instead.