Princess Diana and Prince Charles had a famously tumultuous marriage, which finally ended with one of the most high-profile divorces in British history in 1996. The Prince and Princess of Wales had initially separated in 1992 but the Queen intervened and urged them, alongside Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, to formally divorce over Christmas in 1995. As the divorce proceedings played out, Diana delivered her terms of a £17million lump sum settlement and £400,000 annually – worth around £31million and £730,000 respectively in today's money.
Diana won on her terms but the Prince of Wales had to borrow from the Queen to meet her demands, royal author Tina Brown reveals.
In her 2007 biography “The Diana Chronicles” she writes: “The Prince hated being obliged to borrow from his mother to meet Diana’s terms.”
She continues: “The Prince was first stunned, then outraged, when, in April [he was] presented with Diana’s final £17million term.”
The final sum had been arrived at by Diana and her lawyers in order to maintain her status and security as the Princess of Wales.
Prince Charles had to borrow from the Queen to meet the terms of his divorce from Princess Diana (Image: Getty)
She took him to the cleaners
Geoffrey Bignell, Prince
