Moving letter reveals King Charles’ ‘bewilderment and confusion’ following Diana’s death

A letter written by King Charles has revealed his state of mind as he struggled to cope with his grief over the death of ex-wife Diana.

The hand-written letter, addressed to Peter Houghton, gives an insight into the then Prince of Wales’ anguish as he describes the “bewilderment and confusion that accompanies the removal of someone so young from the world.”

Diana was just 36 years old when she died in a car accident in Paris in 1997. At the time of her death, Charles and Diana’s sons, William and Harry, were just 15 and 12 respectively.

Houghton was also mourning a loved one and Charles wrote that his heart “bleeds” for him following the death of “dear Liz”.

The Monarch tried to console Houghton, relating to the “agony” he was feeling while explaining that he “longed to wave a magic wand to transform the situation.”

This moving exchange only recently came to light after the letter was sold at auction for AU $3000 (£1,500).

It is not the first-time royal letters involving the then Prince and Princess of Wales have come to light.

A poignant Christmas letter written by the late Princess Diana, eight months before her tragic death, has surfaced as part of a collection of her personal correspondences that have gone to auction.

The two-page note, dated December 17, 1996, details the traumatic year the Princess of Wales faced following her recent divorce from then-Prince Charles.

The letter begins with Diana sharing her plans to spend Christmas of ’96 overseas “in the sunshine”.

“I hope ’97 will be an easier year for us all,” she adds.

The Christmas letter is part of a collection of Diana’s “highly personal” letters which were given to the auction house by Susie and Tarek Kassem, two of Diana’s closest friends, who she had met two years prior to her death.

The Kassems had kept the “treasured” letters for over 25 years as they showed “the special and loving relationship they had with the most unique women that they had ever known”.

According to a statement made by Lay’s Auctioneers, “the ownership of these poignant documents is a responsibility that the Kassems do not wish to pass on to their children or grandchildren”.

“They have decided to sell the letters and use proceeds of the sale to support some of the charities that were close to Susie and Diana’s hearts,” the statement read.