Date posted:  12-30-12

I have recently been reading a book "Charles - The Untold Story" by Ross Benson, a columnist for the London
Express and a former classmate of the prince at Gordonstoun. It was published in 1993 to balance the scales as most
books at the time of its publication were sympathetic to Diana but I sense this precis is one important to include on
Diana's personal site as the book brings to light a perspective that is not explored in great detail elsewhere.

    As H.R.H. Prince Charles approached his 30th birthday, his family and British society as a whole impatiently
pressed him to find a bride -- but he had already found Camilla Parker - Bowles, now his second wife H.R.H. Duchess
of Cornwall. She then a married upper-class woman a year older than Charles. However, when the teen-aged Lady
Diana Spencer set her sights on Charles, then hit the target in late 1980, the prince ended his intimacies with Camilla.
Their relationship began to re-establish itself after the "Wedding of the Century" of Charles and Diana in 1981 turned
out to be prelude to the "Mistake of the Century" -- the marriage that started to fall apart on the honeymoon. As
necessary background Camilla and Charles met in the 1970's.  For him, as he very much a loner in character, he felt
unloved and Camilla a year his senior listened to him, amused him and made him feel special and not because he was
heir to the throne. Charles found himself holding for her the combination of both sexual desire and a deep emotional
attachment as she was so suitable to him having her life organised and not dependent upon him but there for him
when needed. Charles being emotionally immature as the consequence of an upbringing providing material comfort
but lacking in emotional succour did need this comfort and reassurance. Camilla though was in love with and later
married to Andrew Parker - Bowles who was a friend of Charles and prior to his marriage to Camilla had an affair with
H.R.H. The Princess Royal ( Princess Anne ) Charles's sister so might have ended up being his brother-in-law had he
not been Roman Catholic which meant marriage to her was forbidden unless he renounced his Faith.
         
       Camilla did not enjoy being a military wife. Andrew initially becoming Colonel Commanding of the Household
Cavalry prior to other senior positions but this meant his being in London and abroad and Camilla a country woman
stayed living outside the capital city. It is now known the marriage was an open - one. Charles found it difficult to
commit to anyone, content to be a bachelor but duty and tradition dictating he find a suitable wife and heirs  needed to
secure succession of the Royal line. Charles met a number of would be contenders for the role and Diana had
entered his orbit as a teen at Althorp in 1979 whilst he was dating Diana's eldest sister Sarah. (Their relationship she
describing as purely platonic, seeing him as a brother, did not last! ) It was in August 1980 at Cowes week on the Isle
of Wight meeting Diana again, Charles began to consider romantic potential with her. Diana, born in Park House on
the Royal Sandringham Estate, had first met Charles whilst she was still in nappies as she had been quite literally the
girl next door. Though the Royal Family kept their distance from the Spencer family and attending boarding school
and the family move to Althorp House in Northamptonshire upon the death of the Earl Spencer, Diana's grandfather in
1975. Johnny Spencer, her father the seventh Earl Spencer, had removed her from royal connections. These
resumed in 1978 when Diana's sister Jane married Robert Fellowes, the Queen's Personal Secretary later knighted
and at the time Diana a bridesmaid and visiting the couple at their apartment in Kensington Palace. Later Diana
visiting Balmoral staying with Jane her sister and made a point of telling people how magical it was, loving it beyond
her imagination! Charles, well known, loves Balmoral as do all the immediate royals, attached to its glens and
mountains which first attracted Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert as the scenery reminded him of his
native Germany. It also is told that "Shy Di" appeared later for the cameras as Diana was seen to being outgoing,
vivacious and extremely friendly to staff and fellow guests alike. Charles and the family impressed by Diana, Diana
spending part of her honeymoon in Balmoral but later telling how she hated the place, always feeling so bored there,
how it was freezing and only ever rained!

                           After the meeting in the Isle of Wight Diana was invited to Sandringham to attend his 32nd birthday
in November 1980 and he made a point of explaining in detail the demands of being his wife would place upon her and
their age difference of 12 years also spoken about but both were soon caught up in a courtship in which both lost
personal control. Diana appealed to the Royals as a girl with no salacious past, a virgin and of good stock, the
Spencer family having served the Royal Family in one capacity or another for ten generations. Another plus being the
Media and the people adored her from the beginning and "Di-Mania" began. Diana was also a natural for the camera,
photogenic and the spotlight of publicity easily fell on her which the royals including Charles came to resent
happening as she was the outsider and stealing their thunder but powerless to prevent and stop it from happening as
the people fell in love with her. Diana was also gaining professional friendships with journalists like Daily Mirror's
James Whitaker later becoming a respected Royal Correspondent who even much later trailed her movements with
Dodi Fayed on their final summer of 1997 and a tribute to him on Diana's personal site in the Tribute Area.
            
                            Diana wanted her Prince Charming and soon enough he proposed to her in the nursery at Windsor
Castle. Apparently the wording of the proposal was typical Charles " If I were to ask you, what do you think you might
answer?" " Yes" was Diana's reply. "It wasn't a difficult decision, it was what I wanted".  It ended in a kiss and then
Charles retiring to his room in the Queens Tower and Diana sleeping on the ground floor of the castle and driving
herself back to London the following morning. Their engagement formally announced at 11am Tuesday February 24th
1981. It was seen even in their initial interview that Charles seen to remain calm and unmoved and Diana looking coy
and bewildered. Almost perhaps as if she realised that she had won his hand but not his heart in marriage! Diana
soon lost her independence having to leave her apartment shared with friends in London and moving into initially
Clarence House , home of the Queen Mother and then Buckingham Palace where her education began, expecting her
to learn the royal ropes immediately. Diana educated by two people she took an instant dislike to Lady Susan Hussey
and Oliver Everett who was Charles's assistant private secretary. Diana grew bored and became irritable and
desperately lonely .. no wonder making the comment later "Being a Princess is not all it's cracked up to be". For the
next few months seeing Charles became a rarity, him with tours to Australia and New Zealand and then to Venezuela,
South America ( Married my Venezuelan wife in April 1981 and we seeing the Royal Wedding of July 29th via satellite
on T.V. in its capital city of Caracas where we lived ). From the end of April until May 1981 Charles in the U.S.A. Even
when in London spending few evenings with Diana having official functions to attend and written into his diary before
their engagement. It seems odd Diana was not invited to accompany him! Diana famously attending the Goldsmiths
Hall Poetry Recital in the black taffeta dress with plunging decolletage which she was chastised for being too revealing
and was the colour only worn by Royals in mourning. On reflection now perhaps the perfect Freudian slip! In spite of
the protestations Diana had looked amazing in the dress and caught media attention immediately! For all her press
and people popularity though, it did not compensate for Diana's personal insecurity and sense of isolation and
confinement behind royal doors.

                      It seems though according to this book that Charles had arranged for every facility to be provided for
his fiance so palace staff on standby to receive any guests she had in her suite of rooms, several chefs and footmen
at her disposal and her being able to hold dinner parties for a minimum of six guests every night but Diana choosing
to the staffs disappointment to spend most evenings alone. Feeling redundant hints were made and eventually Diana
extending invitations to her former flatmates and "Fergie"; Sarah Ferguson, later H.R.H. Duchess of York now
divorced from the Duke; H.R.H. Prince Andrew. It was noticed Diana eating very little herself so now known being in
the early throes of the eating disorder bulimia though she saying she was on a crash diet prior to her wedding. Diana
in secret would gorge and regurgitate sometimes three of four times a day. This was usually bowls of cereal with
added strawberry, apple and banana pieces coated with caster sugar and thick double cream washed down with fresh
orange juice until questions were asked where was food in the Royal pantry disappearing to. Only when a royal
footman was suspected of stealing the missing food did Diana confirm that it had all been devoured by her. It has
been confirmed that the illness is the response to the fundamental problem of coping with life, avoiding painful issues,
reacting to current stress and unresolved problems from the past and many sufferers having a history of violence in
their families. Diana's mother having left Diana's father, who was prone to a violent temper, had committed adultery
with the man who would become her second husband and at the time who had met been married himself; Peter Shand
Kydd. Diana's father gained custody of their children, Sarah, Jane, Diana and Charles who were then brought up with
a succession of nannies and to make matters worse Earl Spencer marrying Raine, "the former Lady Dartmouth and
daughter of novelist Barbara Cartland, who the children called "Acid Rain".   The experience of her unhappy childhood
scarred sensitive Diana deeply leaving her traumatised. Self esteem shattered, the depression following was an
expression of anger turned against herself.

                 A marriage into the Windsor family who are wary of outsiders and only welcome people on their own terms
was not perhaps the wisest move made by someone so fragile and in need of comfort, care and understanding. As
Diana said herself she had to learn to sink or swim pretty quickly. An example of permissible behaviour from a royal
member being quite unacceptable by a guest. At Sandringham one  year the Queen Mother, the Queen and Princess
Margaret had drunk nearly a bottle of gin and a bottle of Dubonnet before dinner..Seated at table the Queen Mother
couldn't get her vegetables out of the serving dish being held by the footman. Instead of transferring them to her
plate, she kept depositing them on the floor which made both her daughters giggle. If this had been a guests
behaviour, their suitcases would have been packed immediately! Diana was sensitive, inexperienced and lacking in
self - confidence and now was with a family emotionally sterile, incapable of sharing their emotions with outsiders.  
William and Harry thankfully seem to have positively broken the rules which is something to be applauded!
            
                By example three weeks before her wedding Diana on her 20th birthday received no shower of cards or
presents or people visiting her, wishing her a Happy Birthday, a day largely spent alone like any other in the palace
with staff presenting her with a chocolate cake and a bottle of Pimms. Charles in the evening giving her a leather
jewellery case with her initials on it, this a day when on the radio announcers excitedly wishing Diana a very Happy
Birthday! Always reticently and with a trace of embarrassment her fiancee who she called "Sir" would kiss or squeeze
one of her hands, he wanting things to wait until they were married before becoming more intimate. However he was
indifferent to her and Diana knew it but so now played was the game of charades that would be played out
professionally for the public of the blissfully happy couple; the fairy tale. As Diana said in life, she and her husband
made a good team! It was in the same timescale Diana had returned to Althorp to tell her father that the wedding was
off, she could not go through with it but Earl Spencer convinced her to stick with it and reluctantly Diana did. People
who witnessed the awkwardness of the betrothed couple with each other saying each played their part in it, he should
have given Diana more attention and she should have made herself more desirable to him so not mooching around in
her suite of rooms all day. After the wedding the honeymoon on the Royal Yacht Britannia proving a disaster as so did
later time spent together at Balmoral as Diana knew her husband was still very close to and calling his friend and soul
- mate Camilla.

               One point to note here and this being remembered the photo call in Balmoral of the newly weds, the
photographs showing a happy, smiling Diana and a less happy husband, almost scowling. Prior to the photo call Diana
having refused to pose for it had incensed her husband who bowing to duty, knew it was all arranged and expected
from them and like the Queen; his mother disliking confrontation but this one unavoidable had been arguing with his
new wife when the cameras rolled and Diana switched moods for the lens faster than he could even holding her
husband's hand! Later the couple siring sons William and Harry and both proud parents, each of them devoted to
their children though Diana seen to be openly more demonstrative of her love and affection for them but privately
Charles equally so. As seen today with their Mummy dead, Papa and they share a very close bond with each other as
Diana died when William was 15 yrs old and Harry 13 yrs old and Charles their single parent, it can be seen he made
a good job of their upbringing. Equally seen by their involvement in charity work and in understanding the mentally
and physically challenged as well as people less fortunate clearly very much echo an inheritance of their late mother's
interests and values.










               Highgrove in Gloucestershire is the Georgian country mansion  set in 410 acres of grounds Charles bought
in August 1980 for $800,000 just a few days after the beginning of his romance with Lady Diana Spencer and that he
most likes to call home as opposed to his London residence of Clarence House, close to Buckingham Palace also in
the Mall, London. Clarence House being the former home of  the late Queen Mother, the grandmother he adored and
she equally adoring of her first grandchild. Diana never liked Highgrove perhaps because it was conveniently located
so closely to the former marital home of Camilla and Andrew Parker - Bowles. Diana was given the task of
redecorating it and this done at a cost of $150,000 and Charles not liking the result, though Diana did, it not
succeeding in making her appreciate the house anymore than before the refurbishment.




  HIghgrove                                                                                                                                Living room Diana
                                                                                                                                                   decorated.         






          It soon would become the place Camilla would play hostess to private parties with Charles whilst Diana was in
the London home of Kensington Palace, the royal marriage surviving privately in name only by the early 1990's.
"Di-Fever" born much earlier; this fairy tale act remained vibrant and alive so on public duty, in public display, Charles
often found himself playing second fiddle to his wife's people popularity which did nothing to improve upon their
personal association with each other as he grew to resent the indignity of being upstaged by her but the truth was that
Diana was more appealing to the people all over the world. Hence even now being remembered as "The People's
Princess" as the lady always will be, a title she will not lose!

            Diana played the hand of people popularity professionally, not that she had deliberately and consciously
captured the people's attention but once they became entranced with her magic, she had no intention of breaking the
spell that was cast and over time she took a malicious delight in standing centre stage and stealing the limelight! An
example being in 1988 when touring Australia and paying a visit to a music college, Charles agreed to play a note or
two on the cello but whilst doing so Diana sat at a piano and began to play the opening theme of Rachmaninoff's 2nd
Piano Concerto and all cameras switched to her leaving her husband publicly humiliated! It was a cruel and calculated
strategy of one-upmanship orchestrated and performed by a maestro! Diana even later upstaged the Queen on three
major separate occasions, the first arriving after her at the Royal Albert Hall, London in November 1982 attending the
Festival of Remembrance and at the 1984 State Opening of the Houses of Parliament, one of the most formal
occasions in the Royal Calendar, it is the moment when the Sovereign's theoretical political power is on parliamentary
display and Diana deciding to wear her hair in a classic chignon knowing how her looks and outfits always made the
front headlines and this a dramatic new hairstyle debut for her! Diana making a mockery of the institution embodied by
her Mother - in - law transforming it into a fashion photo opportunity for the world's favourite cover - girl! Finally on
June 2nd 1993, the 40th Anniversary of the Queen's Coronation the days newspapers instead of being dominated by
happy and congratulations remembrances were dedicated to a speech made the night before by Diana addressing a
conference run by the charity "Turning Point". Diana having spoken about the desperation and loneliness felt by so
many women and of the enormous courage they displayed as they battled with post - natal depression, violence at
home in a personal haze of exhaustion and stress and finding help in coping being a reliance upon tranquillizers,
sleeping pills and other anti-depressants. The seriousness of its message easily upstaging the Queen's celebrations
of her 40 year reign on the throne.

                         Personal friends recalled the embarrassment they felt when whilst at Kensington Palace with their
friend Diana. In might walk her husband Charles unexpectedly and taking one look at her he'd walk out again and in
both Diana's and his eyes they'd see unbridled hatred. It was a real act as even if in the middle of an argument if
interrupted by an equerry or secretary informing them of a pressing official engagement to attend, the shouting would
stop as fast as it started with Diana saying something like "Come on Charles, people are waiting for us". They then
leaving together looking for all the world knew to being the perfectly happy fairy tale couple and their arguments
resuming after attending the official function. By 1985 no less than 40 staff members had resigned from their positions
of employment which was an astounding figure of people in jobs which more often than not were usually for life but
who had found for one reason or another the H.R.H. Princess of Wales impossible to work for. It clearly being the
result of the tensions within the royal miss-match who had been officially united in marriage on July 29th 1981and who
were officially separated on December 9th 1992 and officially inevitably divorced on August 28th 1996. Both parties
contrary to official reports were happy to be freed from their loveless marital farce but which had two elements of joy
who secured the line of succession, adored sons and heirs William and Harry!

                                                                                                                                                           
 Andrew Russell - Davis







"Hello Everyone,

                I am so glad that Andrew is drawn to read books like this which do, as he says, balance the scales which is so
important as there are always two sides to every story and both therefore need to be acknowledged as hopefully then a
less bias viewpoint will be adopted by people and particularly those most inclined to dismiss Charles out of hand and to
alternatively pitch me upfront which is something neither merited or deserved by me. It takes two to make and break a
marriage so we equally played our parts in destroying ours; each of us realising pretty quickly that it was one that wasn't
going to provide for us what we individually needed. Both of us were so very different in almost every way imaginable
but in our case opposites did not attract but ultimately repelled, so speaking of times before our divorce and subsequent
friendship; something we were equally happy about as were our boys of course.

                 This precis written by Andrew draws attention to realities not fantasies which is after all the point of Diana
Speaks. It is not like so many Diana Tribute sites on the net, it differs greatly from them in that it presents the truth
about me as my personal site, and unique for this reason, would be expected to do and as those who knew me best will
appreciate which is my intention of course as my purpose now is to prove to everyone the reality of life after death
being fact and not fiction!"

                  Thank you for listening to me,
                                                             Diana