Despite the breakdown of her marriage to the then-Prince Charles, Diana, Princess of Wales "never" wanted to be divorced, royal author Ingrid Seward said during a special recording of HELLO!'s A Right Royal Podcast, which aired last week in honour of the Princess' 65th heavenly birthday.
Speaking to a live audience of 70 HELLO! readers at the Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites and Residences, London, Ingrid revealed: "She always said, 'I never, ever, ever want to get divorced'. One of her nannies, Mary Clarke, wrote a book and she told her that she never wanted to get divorced. Even to the last moment, Diana never wanted that divorce."
Also joining Ingrid on stage at our podcast recording was fashion designer Jacques Azagury, the creative mastermind behind some of Diana's more daring, post-royal dresses.
Jacques noted the change in his royal client, saying: "She was very anxious and bothered about the whole thing. I think she tried not to show it, but you could tell there was a certain sadness in her. But then we'd get into our design mode and dress mode, and everything would lift again. But there was definitely a sadness there."
"She did love the whole concept of the family," Jacques added.
At the podcast recording, audience members enjoyed the Taj 51's afternoon tea while listening to our experts on stage – Ingrid Seward, author and editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine who enjoyed girly chats at the palace with Diana; designer Jacques Azagury; and investigative journalist Andy Webb, whose book Dianarama unpicks the scandal behind the 1995 Panorama broadcast.
Given the accusations and revelations made in the BBC interview, one month after the broadcast, the late Queen strongly advised Diana and Charles to divorce. The couple had been separated for three years by that point, and in August 1996, their divorce was finalised.
During the podcast episode, our expert panel dug deep into who the real Diana was as they were interviewed by our hosts Emily Nash and Andrea Caamano.
As a VIP member, you can listen to the wide-ranging interview in full below.
