King Charles III‘s terrible reaction to Prince Harry‘s gender was the beginning of the end of his relationship with Princess Diana.
If you missed it, last week, Good Morning America aired a clip of an upcoming documentary featuring unheard audio recordings from the late princess. In it, she recalled Charles at Harry’s christening saying he was “so disappointed” his second child wasn’t a girl.
Now, author Christopher Andersen is doubling down on how much this affected Diana. In an interview with Fox News Digital on Tuesday, The King writer revealed the monarch’s reaction to the Spare author’s birth was “devastating” for her at the time.
Anderson said:
“‘Oh, God,’ Charles blurted out disdainfully, much to the astonishment of doctors and nurses in the room. ’It’s a boy. And he even has red hair!’ At that moment, said Diana, ‘It just went bang, our marriage. The whole thing went down the drain. Something inside me closed off.’”
Oof…
Related: King Charles ‘Won’t Turn His Back On’ Disgraced Prince Andrew
Part of the reason this bothered Diana so much was that she “hated the whole gender preference thing” because she always thought her own parents were “bitterly disappointed” that she wasn’t a boy!
The author continued:
“After having two daughters, Diana’s parents were so convinced she would be a boy that they didn’t even bother picking out a girl’s name in advance. It was a full week before they named her Diana Frances. […] She grew up knowing that her parents were bitterly disappointed in her, all of which made Diana feel ‘unwanted and unloved’ from the beginning.”
No wonder it was triggering for her! The renowned author of The Day Diana Died went on to suggest Harry’s arrival had a lot to do with his parent’s divorce:
“Harry’s birth was definitely a turning point in the marriage of Charles and Diana. Perhaps the turning point. Diana knew that her husband had gone back to his mistress [Queen] Camilla.”
Wow!
Apparently, Charles had more than one grievance with Harry. Along with the fact he was a boy, he also hated his red hair, which the 38-year-old has always attributed to “the Spencer gene,” AKA his momma’s side of the family. This was probably on purpose!
The royal biographer explained:
“Charles doubled down on his criticism of Harry at the baby’s christening, focusing on the gender and, perhaps more tellingly, on the color of his hair. The future king complained not once but several times that Harry was not only ‘another boy’ but also that his hair was ‘rusty.'”
Jeez! What a silly thing to be so frustrated by.
The journalist added:
“Amazingly, we have now learned with the publication of Harry’s memoir Spare that Charles himself would often joke about how he wasn’t Harry’s real father — cryptic remarks that left his second son bewildered and confused. [Prince] William and Harry have very [different] relationships with their father. William is the ever-dutiful son, while Harry is the consummate rebel. Were she alive today, I am sure Diana would have traced it all back to the moment Harry was born. Had Charles not reacted as callously as he did, history might have taken a different course altogether.”
But, of course, there isn’t a time machine that can fix this.
Still, we can understand why Diana found this reaction to their child so troublesome!
Thoughts?! Let us know (below)!
[Image via MEGA/SIDEWALK/WENN]
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