Di’s Dilemma : Divorce Isn’t an Option for Princess in Loveless Marriage

Diana tries to put a good face on the tragic situation that her marriage to Charles has become. “The truth about our separate lives is very simple,” she recently told a friend. “My husband and I get about 2,000 invitations to visit different places every six months, so we have to be apart a fair bit. But don’t worry about me, my marriage is fine. I have never been happier.”

Few people close to the couple believe this obfuscation. In fact, their marriage exists in name only, and while Charles and Diana have now reached a truce, it came only after she had plumbed the depths of despair in early 1986.

She was desperately unhappy at home, totally at her wits’ end to know what she should do, and could see no possible happiness for herself in the years to come. She believed her marriage was a sham, she was convinced Charles had stopped loving her, and she often wondered whether he had indeed ever really loved her.

Diana would throw herself on her bed at home in Kensington Palace and cry with frustration, sadness and sometimes anger; she would often cry herself to sleep at night as she lay alone in her bed.

She could not understand how she had been so very, very happy with Charles and he had spurned her love, seemingly indifferent now to the way she felt, to what she did, to anything about her life. She remembered their early days together when everything was so wonderful and happy--and now her life seemed pointless.

Diana felt that life was not worth living. No one seemed to love her, no one wanted her, even Wills and Harry seemed happiest with their Nanny.

One night, in a fit of desperation and loneliness, she went to the cupboard where she kept her medication. Hardly realizing what she was doing, Diana took a bottle of Paracetemol, emptied a handful of the pills into her hand and pushed them into her mouth. She took a glass of water and swallowed them. She had no idea how many pills she took. Then she went to her room--and waited.

But since nothing seemed to happen, she began to realize the enormity of what she had done. The thought of Wills and Harry alone in the world came rushing into her mind, and she knew she had to undo what she had just done. She went to the bathroom and made herself violently sick, determined to throw up all the pills she had taken.

It was the turning point of Diana’s life.

Diana immediately phoned Charles and told him what she had done. He was thunderstruck, but he acted instantly. He called a doctor and told him to go to Kensington Palace immediately on an urgent mission, only hinting at what had happened. Diana was examined by the doctor, but she was in no danger, she had successfully vomited all the pills.

In retrospect, Diana realizes that her overdose was a desperate cri de coeur to Charles to prove to him that she was indeed in such an emotional state about her life and marriage that the only way out had seemed to be to end it all. But she knows it was never her intention to really attempt suicide; she had never consciously taken the decision to end her life. And she never has.

It was after this episode that Diana knew she had to come to terms with her life with Charles. What she didn’t know was how she was going to do that. She had to change her life, find a role for herself, throw herself into her children--for she knew that, to all intents and purposes, she had lost Charles and his love. But she also knew there was no escape from the marriage. Legal separation would never be tolerated, and divorce, of course, was impossible. She had been told that before she married and she had agreed.

Six years later she is still facing that reality, and there is little or no affection between them. They now lead separate lives most of the time and spend most of their days and nights in separate homes. They have their own sets of friends and different interests. The royal marriage appeared to be heading for rock bottom during 1985 and 1986. At this time, Diana herself had no idea how she was going to come to terms with her life or her marriage. She was only a young woman, there were decades of life ahead, but she had no wish to remain a wretchedly unhappy woman trapped in a miserable union.

It was after an intimate dinner party in the spring of 1986 attended by her friend Sarah Ferguson that Diana decided to seek a possible solution to her problems in a psychic. Among the guests that night were Sarah, Prince Andrew and Penny Thornton, the astrological guru of English aristocratic women.

During dinner, Penny Thornton, 42, explained that no emotional problem was insoluble if you placed your faith in the stars, and she explained how she had used astrology to help save a number of wrecked marriages.

The next morning Fergie phoned Diana and told her about Penny Thornton and her claims. Diana decided to seek her help--after all, what had she to lose? If Penny could help her, then so much the better. She would give it a try. At 11 a.m. the following morning the telephone rang in Penny’s $500,000 country house in Hampshire:

“Hello, this is Diana. I am the Princess of Wales, and I’ve been given your number by Sarah Ferguson. Please can I see you?”

Penny explained that she would not be able to see her for a few days, but Diana persisted: “Could I come now, immediately? I could be at your house in a couple of hours.”

Sensing the urgency in Diana’s voice, Penny agreed, and two hours later she opened the door of her house and found a grim-faced Diana standing there, dressed in jeans and T-shirt.

Penny invited Diana in and they sat down in the small sitting room Penny keeps for her intimate conversations. Penny calmed her down and began to talk quietly and positively. Diana poured out her problems, her emotional turmoil and the breakdown in her marriage. She told Penny everything. Penny explained that by using her inner psychic strengths and astrological powers Diana could face the future with confidence. It was four hours later that Diana left the house and drove back to London. She felt as though a huge load had been lifted from her mind.

Penny agreed to visit Diana the following week at Kensington Palace after she had prepared Diana’s own detailed astrological chart. It contained all Diana’s personal details, the astrological influences at the time, date and place of her birth, the influences of the moon on her personality and the current heavenly aspects influencing her life. Being born on July 1, 1961, Diana is a Cancer. Penny also prepared a star chart for Charles.

When Diana and Penny met the following week at the palace, both charts were laid out side by side on the dining room table, and Penny explained them in detail to Diana. She explained how the planets were lined up in opposition to one another, showing how a rift had developed between her and Charles--but also showing that Diana should not think of leaving Charles at that time.

Penny told Diana that the stars also pointed to a future of real happiness which would be built out of her present mood of despair.

Since that first visit, Diana has seen Penny Thornton on a regular basis, and they often talk on the telephone. Penny slowly built up Diana’s confidence, gave her a lifeline and encouraged her to channel her energies into what astrologers call “plus mode.” And it worked wonderfully.

Later, Diana confided to one of her close friends: “Penny was a revelation to me. She made me totally rethink my life. She taught me things about myself I never knew about. And her suggestion that I should use my own marital difficulties to channel positive ideas into helping others gave me a new direction to my life. That’s why I so love my work with Relate (Britain’s Guidance Counseling Service). I feel I can actually help other people and that makes me feel so good inside. She has been a godsend.”