Prince Charles 'not cynical' and admitted Diana breakup was 'unfortunate thing to happen'
PRINCE CHARLES found himself locked in an outburst over claims he had been cynical during his separation from Princess Diana.
Prince Charles says he’s ‘not prepared to perform’ in 1994
The Royal Family has gone through a period of elevated interest following the release of Netflix drama The Crown's season four. Princess Diana's struggles against the mould of The Firm are played out in its latest release. As a result, Charles and this period have once again been thrust into the spotlight.
The two wed in 1981, and by 1992 their marriage had significantly broken down to the point of separation.
It wasn't until 1996, on the Queen's orders, that Charles and Diana officially divorced.
Thus, the period between 1992 and 1996 was full of some of the most intense speculation surrounding their relationship.
Charles, in attempting to give his side of the story, spoke out during Jonathan Dimbleby's 1994 documentary 'Charles, The Private Man, The Public Role'.
It was here that he launched into a staunch defence of his actions, explaining that he had never wanted the marriage to sour as it had.
He said: "It is a deeply regrettable thing to happen.
"But it does happen, and unfortunately in this case it has happened - it's the last possible thing that I ever wanted to happen.
"I'm not a total idiot, I'm not unaware of these problems.
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"As I was saying before, this business of predicting what everybody would say.
"I didn't go into my marriage with the intention of this happening, or in any way in a cynical frame of mind.
"I'm honestly on the whole not a cynical person.
"And I sound self righteous to say this but I have on the whole tried, I think, to get it right constantly."
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Diana appeared in a similar interview the following year with the BBC's Martin Bashir on Panorama.
Around 23 million people tuned in and watched Diana openly talk about her and Charles' relationship.
During the interview she famously remarked that there were "three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded".
The Princess had previously spoken to her voice coach, conversations that were recorded and later released by Channel 4 in 2017's Diana: In Her Own Words'.
It was here that she claimed to have been left alone to her own devices by the Royal Family.
Meanwhile, as the new series of The Crown garners more attention, friends of Charles launched a blistering attack on the Netflix Original series.
They accused the producers of "trolling on a Hollywood budget".
It came as it explored Diana's eating disorder and Charles' affair with his now-wife Camilla Parker Bowles.
One friend told the Mail on Sunday: "This is drama and entertainment for commercial ends being made with no regard to the actual people involved who are having their lives hijacked and exploited.
"It’s dragging up things that happened during very difficult times 25 or 30 years ago without a thought for anyone’s feelings.
"That isn’t right or fair, particularly when so many of the things being depicted don’t represent the truth."