How Princess Diana ‘Took Control’ Of Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles Affair

She famously felt betrayed when she learned that Prince Charles was having an affair with Camilla Parker Bowls, but Princess Diana decided to “take control” and do something that was considered out of the ordinary for her when she was given a chance to confront the other woman in her marriage.

Speaking on The Windsors podcast, royal commentator Victoria Arbiter revealed that a 1989 confrontation between Princess Diana and Camilla served as a big moment for the royal, because she wasn’t normally a confrontational person, but felt like she needed to have her say when it came to her marriage, so she took a stand when she and Camilla both attended the future Duchess of Cornwall’s sister’s 40th birthday party.

“She would bicker and complain to friends behind the scenes but rarely would she dress the issue at hand with the person in question,” Arbiter said. “But she finally did confront Camilla and said to her ‘I know exactly what you are doing and I am not an idiot.’ And that will have been quite a powerful moment for Diana.”

“That is sort of where she owned her independence and owned her sense of self-righteousness and she had every right to confront her husband’s mistress,” she added.

Though Arbiter admitted the venue wasn’t the best place to address the issue, she also said it was a true turning point for the Princess of Wales, who went on to take control of her life going forward, especially as her marriage continued to crumble.

“I think for Diana that was a turning point. It was the moment when she said ‘I am a person worthy of happiness and I shouldn’t be humiliated like this. I am going to stand up for myself,’” she said. “And that really, I suppose, represented her blossoming because it was after that she took control of her image, took control of her life.”

Diana famously continued the trend of calling out the affair publicly after she gave an interview about it following her separation, which only infuriated Camilla, who reportedly called her a “mad cow” in retaliation.

That interview also reportedly led to problems with Prince William, who allegedly found it “difficult to accept” that his mother had spoken so publicly about the affair.