- Diana, Princess of Wales, delivered a devastating attack
on her then husband, Prince Charles, in secret tapes aired for the first
time on Thursday night in the United States.
-
- Her claims, never before heard in public but the basis
for Andrew Morton's book on the princess, spell out in graphic detail how
serious the divisions were between the couple.
-
- The late princess, speaking when her marriage was in
crisis, said Prince Charles made her "feel so inadequate in every
possible way" and described how bulimia and depression blighted her
life.
-
- She detailed apparent attempts at suicide by hurling
herself down a flight of stairs, slashing her chest and thighs with a penknife,
cutting her wrists and throwing herself into a glass cabinet at Kensington
Palace.
-
- According to the princess, her husband had been disappointed
that their second child, Harry, was a boy and that he hated his red hair.
She also claimed that she had wanted Prince William's birth to be induced
but had to schedule the procedure around her husband's participation in
polo games.
-
- The audio tapes, aired on the US network NBC, were used
as a source for Morton's best-selling biography, Diana: Her True Story.
The princess recorded six audio tapes, as well as video tapes, in secret
at Kensington Palace.
-
- The airing of the tapes could harm Prince Charles's reputation
in the US.
-
- "My husband made me feel so inadequate in every
possible way that each time I came up for air he pushed me down again,"
said Diana. "I hated myself so much. I didn't think I was good enough.
-
- "The public side - they wanted a fairy princess,
someone who touched them and everything would turn to gold. Little did
they realise that the individual was crucifying herself inside because
she didn't think she was good enough."
-
- Diana recounted her life story on the tapes, describing
the first time she went to stay at Balmoral, when she was dating Prince
Charles. "I was sh***ng bricks... I was terrified", she said
about the prospect of meeting the Queen.
-
- Describing the moment Prince Charles proposed, she said:
"I remember thinking, 'This is a joke.' So I said, 'OK,' and laughed.
-
- "A voice inside me said, 'You won't be queen but
you will have a tough role,' so I said, 'Yes'."
-
- Only days later she began to develop bulimia. "Bulimia
started the week after we were engaged," she said. "My husband
had his hand on my waist and said, 'Ooh, a bit chubby aren't we?'."
-
- ©2004 Scotsman.com
-
- http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=261952004
|
