Princess Diana’s heartbreaking act while pregnant with Prince William
After the publication of Andrew Morton's explosive book in 1992, Her True Story — based largely on Diana's own taped testimony - much was revealed about Princess Diana's struggle
Princess Diana and the then Prince Charles’ divorce was undoubtedly extremely tough on the royal couple – but it was also very difficult for their children to navigate.
From the separation in 1992 to the finalisation of their divorce in 1996, public feuds swirled with Prince William and Prince Harry smack bang in the middle of the misery. Whilst the battle between the two royals continued, Diana continued to take her parenting seriously much as she had always done. In 1992, after the publication of Andrew Morton’s explosive book, Her True Story — based largely on Diana’s own taped testimony which exposed the family’s bad blood it was also revealed that Diana had contemplated suicide whilst pregnant with William. Diana made an effort to spend time with her children and to ensure they had as normal a childhood as possible.
In the 25th anniversary edition of Diana: Her True Story, Andrew Morton published a transcript of her interviews which revealed the distressing struggle Princess Diana had with self-harm. “I threw myself down the stairs [at Sandringham],” Diana said in the interviews. “Charles said I was crying wolf and I said I felt so desperate and I was crying my eyes out and he said: ‘I’m not going to listen. You’re always doing this to me. I’m going riding now.’
“So I threw myself down the stairs. The queen comes out, absolutely horrified, shaking – she was so frightened. I knew I wasn’t going to lose the baby; quite bruised around the stomach.” Which effectively said to William: “I tried to kill us both when I was carrying you by throwing myself down the stairs.”
After her cry for help, Diana confessed in the interviews that there was “total dismissal.” Diana’s struggle with mental health was very well documented, in her interviews with Andrew Morton she revealed she was living with an eating disorder and in a 1995 interview with BBC, she described bulimia as a “symptom of what was going on in my marriage.” Her mental health being exasperated by the pressures of her marriage.
