The death of Princess Diana marked a turning point for the British monarchy.
Millions of people mourned the tragic death of the person who earned the nickname “the people’s princess.
After her accident, the then Prince Charles was in charge of recognizing her body in the Hospital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, where they tried to save her life and then transfer her to London for her funeral.
Did King Charles cry when Diana died?
But what many wonder is how Charles reacted when he learned of the death of the woman who was his wife and the mother of his two children.
In the latest season of The Crown, in the episode depicting the death of Princess Diana, there is a shocking scene in which Charles, played by actor Dominic West, enters the morgue to recognize Diana’s body and breaks down in a heartbreaking cry. Did this really happen?
The Daily Mail reported the account of Catholic priest Yves-Marie Clochard-Bossuet, who was waiting in the corridor outside the room where Diana’s remains were already lying and saw the then Prince of Wales’ reaction first-hand.
Charles arrived at the hospital accompanied by Diana’s sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes.
She explained that the then Prince Charles was very kind. He thanked him for staying with the princess for at least 10 hours and invited him to pray with them, Clochard-Bossuet recalled.
The priest revealed that he had noticed that Diana’s appearance had changed since he had last seen her.
The princess had been prepped, eyeshadow and makeup applied, he recalled.
To him, her body no longer had the naturalness it had before. She looked like a doll, whereas before “she was a very beautiful woman,” he said.
A photograph of Diana’s two children, which was in her handbag, was placed in her hands along with a rosary given to her by Mother Teresa. She is wearing the jewelry recovered from the accident, although she is missing an earring.
Afterwards, she said that Charles thanked her and revealed that the then prince was very, very moved and cried.
How did King Charles react when he heard that Princess Diana died?
According to Christopher Andersen, author of The King: The Life of Charles III, then Prince Charles was “furious and trembling” when he received the phone call telling him of Diana’s death.
He let out a cry of grief so spontaneous it seemed to come from his heart. Palace staff rushed to Charles’ room and found him slumped in an armchair, weeping inconsolably.
The author added that Charles was very affected by the death of the princess and, according to French nurses and hospital staff, he looked very bad, as if he had been hit in the face.
Prince Harry, on the other hand, told how the events happened in his controversial autobiography.
Harry says his father had a look on his face he had never seen before, sat on the edge of the bed and revealed to him that his mother had been in an accident.
For the Duke of Sussex, his father was shocked by the death of Diana and repeated several times some words.