Lay’s Auctioneers will put the correspondence up for bidding this month.
The auction of highly personal letters from Princess Diana is offering a rare glimpse into the last two years of the royal’s life. Later this month, Lays Auction House will sell correspondence between the late princess and some of her closest pals — and they’re pretty revealing.
In one of the 32 memos up for grabs, she offers a window into her tumultuous divorce with the man we then knew as Prince Charles (though he has, of course, since become king). “If I’d known a year ago what I’d experience going through this divorce I never would have consented,” she wrote during the split. “It’s desperate and ugly.”
Wondering what else the People’s Princess had to say? Keep reading for fascinating insights into what this unique material reveals — plus, more details on the couple who are selling the letters.
What’s in Princess Diana’s private letters?
During her very public breakup, Princess Diana often turned to Susie and Tarek Kassem, a couple she’d met during one of her visits to the Royal Brompton Hospital. In her letters to the Kassems, which were written between 1995 and 1996, she was very candid about the struggles of her divorce.
“It’s too difficult sometimes to keep one’s head up, and today I am on my knees and just longing for this divorce to go through as the possible cost is tremendous,” she wrote at one point.
In another letter, she expressed concerns that her phones were being tapped, which is why she turned to written correspondence instead of telephone calls. (“As I don’t have a mobile, it is difficult to discuss personal issues as my lines here are constantly recorded and passed on,” she confided.) But even during these bleak times, Princess Diana made a point to thank the couple for their moral support.
“You have no idea the joy and trust you and Tarik have introduced into my life and I count myself extremely fortunate… I can’t thank you enough,” she told them.
Why are the letters being auctioned off?
Though the couple is keeping some of the letters, they decided to sell many of them because of the heavy responsibility of owning these “poignant documents” — a burden they say they don’t want to pass on to their children and grandchildren. By auctioning them off, the Kassems also hope to give other admirers of the late princess the chance to own a memento of “the most unique woman that they had ever known.”
According to the announcement of the auction, all proceeds from the sale will be donated to charities that were near and dear to Princess Diana’s heart, though the couple didn’t specify which ones.
If you’re curious and want to check it out — or perhaps even claim a piece of history for yourself — the auction is scheduled for Feb. 16, 2023, and it’s expected to collect anywhere from $98,000 to $110,000, which is definitely no small chunk of change.
