It’s been 27 years since Princess Diana died in a car crash at the age of 36. Now, a royal expert is speaking out to reveal why Diana “hated” spending Christmas with the royal family at Sandringham.
Diana ‘Hated’ Christmas At Sandringham
During her marriage to King Charles, which lasted from 1981 until they divorced in 1996, Diana reportedly despised spending Christmas with his family at the royal Sandringham estate.
“A friend of mine worked there at the time,” royal expert Ingrid Seward told Fox News. “Diana hated Sandringham. Even when her romance with Charles was going well, she still didn’t like it… I think she found it claustrophobic because Diana was such a free spirit. She didn’t want to have to enjoy herself with so many rules. [But] they’re not rules. They’re just traditions of royalty.”
“There’s an order of precedence – who goes through the door first – and all kinds of things,” Seward continued. “It’s very archaic, and I think it made Diana feel uncomfortable.”
Royal biographer Andrew Morton agreed that Diana “hated” spending Christmas at Sandringham. He alleged that her negative feelings about spending the holidays there stemmed from her first Christmas at the estate with the royals in 1981. This was five months after she married Charles. At the time, she was pregnant with Prince William, who was born in June of 1982.
Related: Princess Di Chillingly Asked ‘Do You Think They’re Going To Kill Me?’ Before Her Death
Diana Shocked By Royal Gag Gifts
Despite suffering from morning sickness, Diana still took the time “to buy her new family members thoughtful and expensive gifts,” according to Morton. She was then mortified to find that the royals gave each other gag gifts for Christmas. For example, while Diana gave her sister-in-law Princess Anne a cashmere sweater, she was given a toilet paper holder in return.
Charles had neglected to tell Diana about the gag gifts heading into Christmas. This only added to Diana’s shock.
“It was highly fraught,” Diana allegedly told Morton. “I know I gave, but I can’t remember being a receiver. Isn’t that awful? I do all the presents, and Charles signs the cards. [It was] terrifying and so disappointing. No boisterous behavior, lots of tension, silly behavior, silly jokes that outsiders would find odd, but insiders understood. I sure was [an outsider].”
Related: Princess Diana’s Friend And Voice Coach Says She Was Hollywood Bound Before Her Untimely Death
Diana ‘Was Absolutely Mortified’
Seward claims to have heard the same story through her friend who works at Sandringham.
“My friend who worked there was looking after Diana,” said Seward. “They went off shopping and… bought beautiful cashmere sweaters, Floris soap and things like that… And she was absolutely mortified when she’d got these really beautiful presents… all sorts of very expensive, but small gifts, and she was given a bath hat or something.”
“She just couldn’t understand [it],” Seward continued. “To her, Christmas was all about spending a bit more than you could probably afford and getting really nice presents.”
Richard Dalton, who was Diana’s hairdresser, also said that “the princess just hated going to Sandringham for Christmas.”
“She told me it was freezing cold, and dinner had to be over by 3 o’clock,” he claimed. “‘It’s 3 and time to watch me on TV,’ she’d say, imitating you-know-who. The royal family had to watch the queen’s Christmas message on television. Diana said it was a command performance.”
To this day, the royal family still spends Christmas at Sandringham. We can only hope that they enjoy spending the holiday there a bit more than Diana did decades ago!
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