A six-figure price was paid at auction for two Princess Diana’s letters to her close friends during the divorce from now-King Charles.
Diana and Charles’s divorce was finalized four years after they separated, in 1992.
The collection of letters sent to the Princess of Wales’ close friends Susie and Tarek Kassem was sold for £141,150, Lay’s Auctioneers said on Thursday (16 February).
“Some letters do touch on the enormous stress she was experiencing during periods of very public heartbreak, yet her strength of character and her generous and witty disposition shine through,” said the UK-based auction house.
In Lot 416, dated 28 April 1996, Diana apologized for cancelling a trip to the opera with the Kassems, explaining the despair she felt over the divorce from then-Prince Charles.
“It’s too difficult sometimes to keep ones [sic] head up and today I’m on my knees and just longing for this divorce to go through as the possible cost is tremendous.” She wrote.
The letter, addressed to both Susie and Tarek, was sold for £12,500.
In a different letter, from 20 May 1996, Diana said she believed her phones are bugged.
Writing to Susie, she said: “I telephoned a couple of times today to catch up, but the line was engaged. As I don’t have a mobile, it is difficult to discuss personal items. As my lines here are constantly recorded and passed on.”
Diana added: “If I had known a year ago what I’d experience going through this divorce, I’d never have consented, it’s desperate and ugly.”
This letter was sold for £23,000.
Diana tragically died in a car crash on 31 August 1997 at the age of 36.
