Shadows of a Princess by Patrick Jephson

Author:Patrick Jephson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2017-07-08T04:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

SPHINX

Nelson Shanks’s image of unknown destiny was still several years in the future. At the beginning of 1992 no such doubt, theoretically, existed about the Princess’s long-term role. It was still possible to believe that the Prince and Princess of Wales could reach an accommodation that would enable the public appearance of togetherness to be maintained.

After all, we had by now amicably arranged the separation of their offices and they themselves had fallen into a routine which saw the Prince spend as much time as possible at Highgrove and the Princess do the same at Kensington Palace. Although KP was surprisingly small, a bit of clever internal redesign – with the co-operation of their neighbours – could even have enabled them to carry on under the same roof a life of public respectability and private acceptance of each other’s need for time apart.

It was not to be. The story of the year is one of inexorable decline from the relatively optimistic pragmatism of its opening to the open bloodshed and separation which marked its end. This was the annus horribilis.

My own observation was that the Prince had in fact arranged his life so that it would have been relatively easy to create the rather worldly but realistic arrangement I have described above. It was, after all, one to which his ancestors had been accustomed, and many wives – particularly those of a certain English tradition – might have taken the opportunity to devote themselves to the children and public good works as a substitute for cosy domesticity, if not with gratitude then at least with public stoicism. Such an arrangement would also have allowed both partners the benefit of a blind eye being turned to any extramarital affairs, if that was their wish.

For a number of reasons, the Princess did not conform to this pattern. At one level she was still the idealistic girl, still in love with the idea of being in love and at times still seeming desperately anxious to preserve the appearance of stability which even a dysfunctional marriage could allow. Also, not least due to her work as patron of Relate, she had a keen appreciation of the effects such a separation would have on the children.

In addition, she found it irresistible to play the wronged wife. As I often saw, however, her lines lacked conviction. ‘Really, my husband’s just a child. Honestly, it’s as if I had three boys …’ Acting out this role set up a particularly confusing internal conflict for her as she contemplated the reality of her affair with James Hewitt. To surrender the moral high ground was bad enough, but to surrender it for a love that failed was intolerable. She was suffering the guilt of having had an affair, but, unlike her husband, she no longer had the object of her affections to console her.

What usually came out on top was her sense of having suffered a cruel injustice. This was particularly easy to sustain while the public remained ignorant

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