Princess Diana was ‘wrong’ with grim prediction about King Charles’ future
Princess Diana gave a bombshell interview to Martin Bashir in 1995 during which she spoke about then-Prince Charles's future as King - but her predictions were proven to be incorrect
When Princess Diana sat down with Martin Bashir for her infamous Panorama interview in 1995, she made a number of explosive revelations, from her own infidelity, to her husband’s affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles, and her private battle with bulimia.
She also expressed doubt about her husband’s suitability for kingship. When the journalist asked about her uncertain future: “Do you think you will ever be queen?” she smiled and slightly chuckled. “No, I don’t, no…I’d like to be a queen of people’s hearts, in people’s hearts, but I don’t see myself being queen of this country. I don’t think many people will want me to be queen.” Diana was then asked about the more certain future of Charles, her soon-to-be ex-husband: “Do you think he would wish to be king?” And she expressed her doubts.
“There was always conflict on that subject with him when we discussed it, and I understood that conflict, because it’s a very demanding role, being Prince of Wales, but it’s an equally more demanding role being king,” she said. “And being Prince of Wales produces more freedom now, and being king would be a little bit more suffocating. And because I know the character, I would think that the top job, as I call it, would bring enormous limitations to him, and I don’t know whether he could adapt to that.”
Some 27 years later, Charles did become King following the death of his mother – and he has risen to the occasion. In August 2024, approximately 63 percent of people in Great Britain had a positive opinion of the King, compared with 29 percent who had a negative opinion. He is greatly admired for his charity work, including The Prince’s Trust in particular, and the difference it has made to so many lives. He has also been vindicated for passions that once seemed eccentric to many. “People thought he was bonkers [for his environmental concerns] and he’s been proven right,” Angela Levin previously told the Telegraph. “People thought organic food was madness.”
He has also won praise for his deft handling of Prince Andrew in light of the Epstein scandal, and has garnered huge sympathy in the wake of Prince Harry’s repeated attacks on the family. “A lot of people feel sorry for him [over that],” Levin added. “But he’s holding himself with a lot of dignity and people really do realise that.”
Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond, meanwhile, had said: “I think people now see in King Charles a man who is true to himself. [A man] who stood up for the woman he loved, declaring Camilla ‘non-negotiable’; who has weathered the barbed attacks from his son, Harry, with a commendable silence and who, most importantly, is holding fast to his principles of promoting harmony and peace between people of all faiths and of making this world a better place for everyone.”
