How Prince Charles' ‘Ultimate Goal’ Was Set Aside Because Of Princess Diana

Prince Charles reportedly had one goal in mind after he divorced Princess Diana and started dating Camilla Parker Bowles publicly. However, his plans were postponed following the Princess of Wales’ tragic car accident.

In 1997, Prince Charles and Camilla were planning on making their relationship official at a charity event for the National Osteoporosis Society in Dorset. The Duchess of Cornwall sent out 700 invitations, and rumors swirled that the Duke of Cornwall was going to make a surprise appearance at the gathering.

Royal author Penny Junor wrote in “The Firm” that the royal couple decided to make their relationship public after Camilla’s birthday party in Highgrove went very well. PR advisor Alan Kilkenny was also slowly taking Camilla out of the shadows.

At that time, the public’s favor toward Prince Charles’ wife was increasing, while their fondness for Princess Diana was decreasing. This was because the Princess of Wales was making headlines due to her flirtatious behavior while vacationing in France with Dodi Al Fayed.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their last official trip together - a visit to the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images

“It would have been a giant step along the path to making Camilla a legitimate part of the prince’s life — the phrase he used time and again — which was his ultimate goal,” Junor said. “But those and every other plan screeched to a halt that Sunday in August when Britons awoke to the shocking news that Diana, Princess of Wales, had been killed in a car crash,” she added.

Following Princess Diana’s shocking demise, Prince Charles and Camilla decided to keep their romance as low key as possible. They never stepped out in public together, and they were only photographed together two years later.

In her book “The Duchess,” Junor also said that Queen Elizabeth wanted Camilla out of her son’s life before Princess Diana died. And she didn’t change her mind even after her former daughter-in-law’s passing.

“It was nothing personal,” Junor said. “She had been very fond of Camilla in all the years she had been married to Andrew, but it was Camilla who had been responsible, wittingly or not, for all the disasters that had befallen the prince since his marriage.”