Princess Diana and Prince Charles' marriage ended in a bitter divorce that's almost always attributed to Charles' extramarital relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles. But according to an interview included in the recently re-released book Diana: Her True Story — In Her Own Words, the Princess of Wales said that Charles' disappointment over not having a daughter is what ultimately caused the marriage to collapse.
During a meeting with royal biographer Andrew Morton, Diana said her marriage's downward spiral began after Prince Harry's birth in 1984. "Charles and I were very, very close to each other the six weeks before Harry was born, the closest we've ever, ever been and ever will be," she told Morton. "Then, suddenly, as Harry was born, it just went bang, our marriage. The whole thing went down the drain."
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According to Diana, she knew the baby's gender before the birth but she kept it to herself because Charles had "always" wanted a daughter. "He wanted two children and he wanted a girl," she added.
She also told Morton that Charles' initial reaction to Prince Harry's birth was, "Oh God, it's a boy...and he's even got red hair."
Diana said that Charles "loved the nursery life," but their marriage was never the same after Harry's birth. She added that "something inside me closed off" and "I knew Charles had gone back to his lady," in reference to Bowles.
However, she later blamed Charles' ongoing relationship with Bowles for the divorce. The couple separated in 1992 and, in 1995, she told BBC News that "there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
They officially divorced in 1996. Diana died in a tragic car crash the following year.
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