Kathrine Frich
From the outside, it was a royal union watched by the world and weighed down by expectation.
Behind palace walls, however, efforts were made to prevent the breakdown from becoming inevitable.
Only years later has the role of one unexpected figure begun to emerge.
A troubled union
The marriage between then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana was strained almost from the beginning.
Both later acknowledged affairs, while Diana struggled with the rigid traditions and expectations of royal life.
Her desire to act independently often clashed with palace norms, creating tension with senior royals, including Queen Elizabeth II.
By December 1992, the couple formally separated, and their divorce was finalized several years later.
Although Diana was no longer part of the royal family after the split, her sons remained firmly within it, with Prince William destined to become king.
Fears and pressures
According to biographer Howard Hodgson, author of Charles: The Man Who Will Be King, Diana feared losing influence over her children during the marriage breakdown.
She believed the Queen could exercise constitutional authority over Prince William and Prince Harry’s care and education.
“She was well aware that the Queen had the constitutional right and authority under common law to take control of both boys’ care and education,” Hodgson wrote, warning that Diana feared exclusion if relations with the royal family collapsed entirely.
These anxieties added another layer to an already volatile situation.
An unlikely mediator
While royal aides and family members attempted to steady the marriage, a lesser-known figure also became involved.
According to royal expert Valentine Low’s book Power and the Palace, former British prime minister John Major acted as an “honest broker” between Charles and Diana.
Low wrote that Major served as a sympathetic listener to Diana during her most isolated moments.
The Daily Mail reported that Major’s former private secretary, Alex Allan, said the politician was “quite concerned” about Diana and offered her a “shoulder to cry on.”
Diana’s private secretary, Patrick Jephson, told Low that she and Major regularly met for tea and that she valued his guidance.
A public ending
Despite those efforts, the marriage could not be saved. On December 9, 1992, John Major stood before the House of Commons to deliver the official announcement.
“It is announced from Buckingham Palace that, with regret, the Prince and Princess of Wales have decided to separate,” he said, bringing the so-called “War of the Waleses” to a close.
The statement marked the end of one of the most turbulent chapters in modern royal history.
Sources: Daily Mail, Power and the Palace, Newsner.
