Princess Diana admitted she’d go back to Prince Charles ‘in a heartbeat if he wanted her’, claims biographer Tina Brown

The royal couple divorced in 1996 after 15 years of marriage

(Rex)

The summer before she died, Princess Diana admitted that she “would go back to Charles in a heartbeat if he wanted her”, claims Tina Brown, an award-winning journalist.

Brown, who wrote the 2007 biography The Diana Chronicles, has also stated that over lunch at The Four Seasons in the summer of 1997 the late princess had described how things had stabilised between herself and Charles, and how her feelings for her ex-husband were unrequited.

“At the end of Diana's life, she and Charles were on the best terms they'd been for a very long time. Charles got into the habit of dropping in on her at Kensington Palace and they would have tea and a sort of rueful exchange. They even had some laughs together.” 

Brown – a previous editor of the New Yorker and the writer responsible for breaking the news of Charles and Diana’s marriage breakdown – has said in a new interview with The Telegraph.

Luckily for their sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, things had “calmed down” and Diana had accepted Camilla Parker Bowles as Charles’ partner. “One thing she had finally done was really understand that Camilla was the love of his life, and there was just nothing she could do about it,” Tina said.

“But she said to me at that lunch that she would go back to Charles in a heartbeat if he wanted her."

The Diana Chronicles was based on over 250 interviews with members of Diana's intimate circle, as well as people involved in her public life and partners in her philanthropy.

Prince Charles’ marriage to Diana – as well as his ongoing relationship and affair with Camilla Parker Bowles – is closely examined in the fourth season of The Crown, which dropped on Netflix last night (November 15).

Emma Corrin made her series debut as Diana, while Olivia Colman, Helena Bonham-Carter and Tobias Menzies returned as the Queen, Princess Margaret and Prince Phillip respectively. Gillian Anderson has also entered the smash TV show this season, playing former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Emma Corrin in The Crown (Des Willie/Netflix)

Viewers have also been divided over the programme’s depiction of Princess Diana’s bulimia. While many people have praised the show for its realistic depiction of bulimia, others found it difficult to watch.

“They did Diana’s bulimia way too realistically on The Crown,” tweeted one person. "I forgot it would be there. I feel like someone just slapped me in the face."

Royal biographers have also questioned the programme’s depiction of the eating disorder.