An untold love story from Princess Diana
A new book has raised new questions about Princess Diana‘s early love interests inside the royal family. In Divide and Rule: Royal Women and Their Battles, which will be released on June 23, author Catherine Mayer claims that the late Princess anonymously sent Valentine’s Day cards to the now-estranged Prince Andrew during her teenage years. According to the author, a former schoolfriend recalled that Diana continued the tradition until she was around 15 or 16 years old, years before meeting her future husband, King Charles.
“The schoolfriend says that every year until Diana turned fifteen or sixteen, she sent Andrew a valentine card, anonymously of course,” the author revealed.
A school friend’s story surprised the author
In the book, Mayer writes that Diana had felt admiration from afar for one of Charles’ younger brothers. The author admitted that she was surprised by the revelation in an interview published by The Telegraph on June 16, 2025. However, the late Princess and her family had close ties to the monarchy, as she was born at Park House on the Sandringham Estate, and several relatives held positions connected to the royal household. Her sister, Sarah Spencer, briefly dated Charles, who was then a Prince, before introducing him to Diana in 1977.
“I was quite startled when I found that out. That was new news,” she told the outlet.
Diana’s royal story had an unexpected turn
Charles and Diana began their relationship in 1980, leading to a highly-publicized engagement and marriage. Diana became Princess of Wales and later introduced her childhood friend and fourth cousin, Sarah Ferguson, to Prince Andrew. Diana passed away following a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997, at the age of 36. Meanwhile, King Charles stripped Andrew’s royal title in October 2025 due to his connection to Jeffrey Epstein. Even though the estranged royal has denied any wrongdoing, his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, also lost her Duchess of York title in the same sweep and has not been spotted with the British monarchy this year.
