King Charles Described the “Unbearable Emptiness” After Princess Diana’s Death in a Touching Letter
The correspondence was just up on the auction block.
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A letter dating back to 1997 is giving royal fans insight into King Charles's emotions and grief after the passing of Princess Diana. People reports that in the previously unreleased letter, Charles (at the time, he was still Prince Charles) wrote about the “unbearable emptiness” he felt months after Diana died. Charles sent the letter to Peter Houghton and the note recently sold at auction for $2,000, according to the Daily Mail.
The letter also gave a glimpse into Charles trying to comfort his friend, as he explained that his heart “bleeds” for him following the death of “dear Liz” (who Charles also called a “life-enhancer”). Charles also wrote that he could imagine the “agony” Houghton was enduring and “longed to wave a magic wand to transform the situation.”
Charles continued, writing about his “bewilderment and confusion that accompanies the removal of someone so young from the world."
Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images
The letter was written on Highgrove House letterhead and dated December. 8, 1997. Diana died in a car accident on August 31 that same year. She was 36. He signed the letter "Charles" and the auction lot included the original envelope in addition to the three-page letter. The envelope had a message requesting that the letter be delivered "by hand" and the Daily Express adds that the individual who sold the letter chose to remain anonymous.
The letter also included a rare glimpse into Charles's faith, People notes. Reflecting on his beliefs about what happens after death, Charles included a Bible verse from 1 Corinthians 13:12.
"Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face-to-face,” he wrote. “Personally, I believe that there is another dimension beyond this physical one and that we will be amazed to discover it for ourselves when we are eventually—or at a moment—called upon to make that certain journey for ourselves.”
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A spokesperson at RR Auction in Boston shared that “this lengthy handwritten letter to ‘Peter’ expresses his sympathy upon the death of a loved one. Charles was likely particularly emotional at the time he wrote the letter, as Princess Diana had tragically passed away just a few months before in August 1997.”
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