A Princess of Wales

Chapter Twelve: The New Normal

28th of September 1996 - Kensington Palace

The divorce of the Prince and Princess of Wales went through that August, the press having a field day with the news of the divorce and they stepped up their coverage in Diana. 

It was nearly impossible to leave Kensington Palace these days and she had never felt so alone especially with her friends turning against her. 

Elton John had been the first, the two of them falling out over Gianni Versace's coffee table book Rock and Royalty; Diana had written a glowing tribute to the designer for the book's foreword without seeing the layout. 

"From the optimism that shines from the pages of the book, one can tell [Versace] loves mankind." Diana had written but those words took on new meaning when the princess finally received an advance copy of the book and discovered racy photographs of naked men interspersed with images of the royal family. 

Pictures of herself and people that she had cared about printed in black and white alongside pictures that just completely clashed with what the royal family stood for. 

Despite everything that had happened in recent years, Diana had been very worried that her involvement in the book would upset the Queen who she greatly admired and had tried her so well despite everything that had happened.

Diana was furious because she felt like she'd been used and misled by her dear friend, she was distressed about the potential fall-out from the book, that she pulled the foreword she had written and withdrew her name from the invitation for the book party, which Elton John then cancelled. 

Letters had been exchanged between the pair, bring an end to a friendship that had last fifteen years and Diana had been shocked with how he had spoken to her in his letters; his words having been cruel and he had planned Buckingham Palace for her dropping out as if she wasn't her own person. 

Now she found herself sitting at home with no one to turn to, every one of her friends seemed to want something from her these days without offering her back anything in return. 

Even her own brother had disowned her, she had begged him to allow her to return to Althorp so that she could find her feet in all of this. 

He had turned his back on her and stopped taking her calls, even instructing Victoria not to take her calls; her sister-in-law apologising before hanging up on Diana. 

It wasn't like Charles was using Althorp at this time, he was living in South Africa with Victoria with their four children; Kitty, Eliza, Amelia and Louis who barely even knew their royal aunt these days.

It broke her heart that she couldn't return home, that Charles refused to allow her to escape the pressure of Kensington; she knew how people looked at her now even her own staff for the interview that she had done. 

The worst thing about the interview was the affect that it had on her children, William didn't look the same at her anymore while Harry was quieter than normal around the house. 

But poor Adeline had suffered worse than her brothers, the rumours persisted despite the statement that the royal family had released and Diana cursed herself for not thinking this through. 

It was her daughter that they labelled a bastard, yes there were rumours about Harry being Hewitt's but they were few and far between compared to the headlines about Adeline; the nine year old couldn't be shielded from it all. 

The headteacher at the school had informed her of the bullying that was taking place, her already quiet daughter seeming to shrink in on herself even more than she already did.