Princess Diana's letters reveal shocking details about her divorce from King Charles

Princess Diana's never-before-seen letters have revealed Prince William and Harry's late mother's anguish over ‘desperate and ugly’ divorce from King Charles.

Harry's mom told friends “she never would have gone through with her divorce” if she knew how “desperate and ugly” the process would be, according to the previously unseen letters.

In the correspondence to close friends Susie and Tarek Kassem, Diana described how negotiations left her ‘on her knees’.

In the collection of 32 letters - put up for auction by the Kassem’s - the People's Princess reportedly spoke of her fears her phone at Kensington Palace had been bugged by the Royal family. She sought support and advice from the close confidantes throughout her split from Charles.

One of the most revealing letters in the collection describes Diana’s feelings during the divorce. 

She wrote to the Kassem’s to apologise for having to cancel a trip with them to see the opera Tosca: “I am having a very difficult time and pressure is serious and coming from all sides. It’s too difficult sometimes to keep one’s head up and today I am on my knees and just longing for this divorce to go through as the possible cost is tremendous.”

Diana's handwriting, normally flowing and neat, deteriorates towards the end of the letter. The princess also spoke of how she feared her phone at Kensington Palace was “constantly” bugged and the recordings of her private conversations were passed on to the Royal family.

She wrote: “If I’d known a year ago what I’d experience going through this divorce I never would have consented. It’s desperate and ugly.”

In another letter, she thanked the Kassems for letting her spend Christmas 1995 with them while William and Harry were with their father at Sandringham.

After Buckingham Palace publicly announced Diana would not be joining them for the festivities it was widely thought she spent it alone at Kensington Palace.

Diana wrote: “I was so thrilled to be invited into a family occasion particularly as I was made to feel like one of the team.”

In all, there are 32 letters and cards Diana wrote in late 1995 and throughout 1996 that are now being sold by the couple.

In many of them she gushingly thanks the couple - who she met for the first time in August 1995 during her regular visits to the Royal Brompton Hospital - for showering her with gifts and emotional support.

On December 19, 1995, the day after the Queen advised Charles and Diana to divorce, she wrote: “I may have been described as a butterfly but I don’t want to fly away from this loving family.” She was referring to the Kassem family.

She added: "I’m immensely touched by how protective you both are of me... I’m not used to that!"