Newspaper reports that Prince Philip insulted Princess Diana in a series of letters have spurred the 81-year-old royal to make an unprecedented public statement denying the claims.
Forty-seven-year-old faith healer Simone Simmons recently alleged that Diana had shown her correspondence, written on cream-coloured paper and signed "Philip", in which the Duke of Edinburgh called the Princess a "harlot" and a "trollop".
The statement from Buckingham Palace refutes the reports, saying that although the Duke of Edinburgh regards his correspondence with his family "a private matter", he "reluctantly decided that he must publicly correct these allegations."
The Prince says he started writing letters to Diana in June, 1992 as "a friendly attempt to resolve a number of family issues" in the months before his son and daughter-in-law's official separation. "Prince Philip wishes to make it clear that at no point did he ever use the insulting terms described in the media reports, nor that he was curt or unfeeling in what he wrote.
"He regards the suspicion that he used such derogatory terms as a gross misrepresentation of his relations with his daughter-in-law and hurtful to his grandsons."
Prince Philip confirmed via the statement that he kept copies of his letters and the original replies from Diana; however, he has no intention of making the correspondence public in order to refute the talk.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
