How Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles’ Affair Made Princess Diana Feel Trapped

When Princess Diana married Prince Charles she expected to live happily ever after. However, once she learned about his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, she quickly realized her life was no fairytale.

After she was left heartbroken over their secret relationship, the Princess of Wales began to worry about the consequences of ending her marriage. Eventually her eagerness to meet a man who would love her trumped her fears.

In the book “Diana: The Last Word” by Simone Simmons, the author revealed Charles’ affair left his wife feeling “ensnared in the royal trap she had so reluctantly walked into.”

Despite her disappointment with her husband’s behavior, Diana “stayed put in the marital home and continued to suffer.”

While romancing Camilla during his marriage was reportedly the ideal situation for Prince Charles, who would have carried on the affair “indefinitely,” Diana wanted more.

“This is not what Diana wanted from life. She still longed to be loved by one man ‘and one man only.’ She wanted to share the rest of her life with that man. She didn’t want to share that man with anyone else.”

The affair kept Prince Charles’ attention on Camilla, which gave Diana time to focus on their sons Prince William and Prince Harry. According to Simmons, the Prince of Wales’ infidelity “had hurt her deep in her heart’s core,” and Diana found comfort in visiting groups that cared for abused women.

“By speaking to other women, Diana was able to get an insight into what was happening to her,” the author wrote.

After learning a majority of those women left their husbands, Diana began having an affair with James Hewitt and eventually separated from Charles in 1992. Prince Charles and Princess Diana finalized their divorce in 1996.