Princess Diana’s waist shrank to just 23 inches after she was sick with worry about Charles’ feelings for Camilla
ROYAL author Sally Bedell Smith has revealed that Princess Diana's waist shrank to a tiny 23 inches, just weeks before her wedding to Prince Charles in July 1981.
In her book, Charles: The Misunderstood Prince, Smith claims Diana - aged 19 at the time - lost nearly 14 pounds in the run-up to her wedding.
At the end of March 1981 - and just four months before the big day - Prince Charles embarked upon a six-week tour of Australia, New Zealand and the US.
When Charles returned home from his tour, Smith says Diana looked "alarmingly thin" and although the pair had been in contact while Charles was away, Diana had felt "intimidated and isolated".
"Back at Buckingham Palace, [Diana] was in bad shape: anxious, depressed and volatile," Smith explained.
"She felt claustrophobic, intimidated and isolated. Behind closed doors, she was suffering from bulimia, the secret binge eating and self-induced vomiting that had afflicted her before in times of great stress."
"She looked alarmingly thin," Smith continued.
"Having lost nearly fourteen pounds, she had shed all traces of the 'puppy fat'.
"Her waistline had contracted from twenty-nine to twenty-three inches, causing her wedding dress to be taken in several times."
As we reported a few weeks ago, Princess Diana was distressed the night before Charles left, after overhearing a phone conversation Charles had with Camilla.
"You may recall seeing a picture of me sobbing in a red coat when he went off on his aeroplane," Diana explained.
"That had nothing to do with him going. The most awful thing had happened before he went.
"I was in his study talking to him about his trip. The telephone rang, it was Camilla. Just before he was going.
"So I thought, ‘Shall I be nice or shall I just sit here?’
"So I thought I’d be nice, so I left them to it and it just broke my heart."
In her book, Smith explains: "Years later, Diana said she had wept before Charles left for Australia because the previous night Charles had interrupted their conversation to take a call from Camilla, who wanted to say goodbye."
In the weeks leading up to the big day, Smith explains Diana felt "devastated" just two days before the wedding.
"Charles had asked Michael Colborne to buy more than a dozen gifts for friends, including...Camilla Parker Bowles," Smith revealed.
"Camilla's was a gold bracelet personalised with a blue enamel disk engraved with the initials 'GF'.
"The monogram stood for 'Girl Friday,' Charles's nickname for his 'intimate friend'.
"Poking around Colborne's desk, Diana discovered the bracelet and confronted Charles.
"She assumed the initials stood for 'Gladys and Fred' (two characters on The Goon Show beloved by Charles and Camilla), which to her represented them as a couple.
"Charles tried unsuccessfully to disabuse her, but he compounded Diana's suspicions when he insisted on presenting the bracelet to Camilla in person as his final farewell.
"Diana recalled feeling 'devastated'."
Smith says just days later on the eve of her wedding, "Diana had a bulimic attack and was 'sick as a parrot'" while Charles meanwhile was in a "contemplative mood".
"Charles found himself weeping," Smith revealed.
"Stephen Barry asked what was wrong.
"'Stephen,' he said. 'Is it possible to love two women at the same time?'"
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