THE TELEGRAPH: The late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, reacted with "utter abhorrence" to Diana, Princess of Wales's decision to "wash the dirty linen in public" by disclosing details of the breakdown of her marriage.
An official biography published today describes how Queen Elizabeth was "deeply shocked" when it emerged that Princess Diana had collaborated with Andrew Morton on the book Diana: Her True Story, which caused a sensation when it was published 17 years ago.
She was also dismayed by the Prince of Wales's decision to discuss his private life with the broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby for a TV programme in which he admitted he had been unfaithful.
Queen Elizabeth revealed her thoughts about her grandson's divorce in a series of previously unpublished interviews with Sir Eric Anderson, the former Provost of Eton College, which were made available to the biographer William Shawcross.
"It is always a mistake to talk about your marriage," she told Mr Anderson, who spent a total of 20 hours interviewing her.
Details of Queen Elizabeth's thoughts on the Royal divorce are contained in Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: The Official Biography, which was commissioned by the Queen.
In 1992, Andrew Morton's book disclosed that the Princess of Wales had attempted suicide on at least five occasions in the 1980s, suffered from bulimia and felt rejected both by Prince Charles and other members of the Royal family, including the Queen.
At the time of its publication, it was rumoured that the Princess herself had helped Mr Morton with the book, and after her death in 1997 Mr Morton confirmed that the Princess had indeed been the main source, and had even checked the proofs of the book for accuracy.
In 1995 the Princess recorded a Panorama interview in which she talked about the Prince of Wales's affair with the then Camilla Parker Bowles, saying: "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
Mr Shawcross notes: "(Queen Elizabeth) had been sympathetic to both the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of York over the enormous pressures they faced from the media. But the washing of dirty linen in public was utterly abhorrent to Queen Elizabeth. >>> Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | Thursday, September 17, 2009
