An unearthed letter written by Princess Diana seems to offer more details about her time at Buckingham Palace.
The contents of the letter, which was obtained by People on Friday, May 30, were written by Diana to Palace footman Mark Simpson. The letter bore the date July 31, 1981, just two days following her wedding to King Charles III, who was then the Prince of Wales.
In the letter, Diana expressed her gratitude to Simpson, stating, “I just wanted to thank you for all your kindness + patience you’ve showed towards me since I moved into B.P. My stay was made so much easier by your company as it was so terribly lonely + we had so many laughs for that I can’t thank you enough.”
She further mentioned in the letter, “Do hope you were able to enjoy Wednesday + that you liked my dress? I’m off to Britainia tomorrow, what with all those men around. I will have to keep a watchful eye on Evelyn!”
Diana was seemingly referring to her aide and personal dresser, Evelyn Dagley.
“The bad news is that I haven’t eaten any cereal — sob,” Diana’s letter concluded. “How am I going to cope without my bowls of cereal … [smiley face]. A large thank you for being you — Much love, Diana.”
The letter is just one of many included in the Princess Diana’s Style & A Royal Collection auction, which is now live via Julien’s Auctions. While others are notes to friends or designers, this particular letter seems to speak to the unhappiness Diana felt as a member of the royal family.
Diana married Charles on July 29, 1981, in London. The former couple announced their separation in 1992 amid ongoing cheating speculation. Their divorce was finalized in August 1996, one year before Diana died at age 36.
Rumors of an affair between Charles and his now-wife, Queen Camilla, started in 1986. Charles eventually admitted in 1994 that he had been unfaithful during his marriage to Diana.
“Yes,” he replied when asked about infidelity. “[Not] until it became clear that the marriage had irretrievably broken down.”
Diana spoke candidly about her ex-husband’s extramarital affairs during various interviews following their split.
“There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” she famously stated during a 1995 interview with the BBC.
She also opened up about deciding to separate from Charles. “I think everybody was very anxious because they could see there were complications but didn’t want to interfere but were there [and] made it known that they were there if required,” she said. “When we went abroad, we had separate apartments, albeit we were on the same floor, so of course that was leaked [by the press] and that caused complications, but Charles and I had our duty to perform and that was paramount.”
