Diary entries written by Princess Diana's mother, Frances Shand Kydd, criticising the Royal Family have been revealed for the first time on Good Morning Britain. The extracts feature in royal biographer Ingrid Seward's new book, Catherine and Diana, which compares the lives, upbringings, marriages and public duties of the two royals.
Diary entries criticise the Royal Family
During the ITV programme, presenter Susanna Reid read out an extract in which Frances wrote: "The Royal Family are a disgrace. All duties, tantrums, coldness and selfish calousness. When I got away from that lot, it was wonderful, I felt free."
Co-presenter Tom Swarbrick shared another snippet about King Charles, reading: "That door is closed, I wasn't a republican before Diana got married, but after..." Susanna added that Frances also touched on the late Queen Elizabeth, claiming she did not get in touch after Diana's death.
Biographer explains how diaries surfaced
Asked whether anyone had seen the diaries before, Ingrid Seward said no one had. She explained they were given to her by a friend who had been close to Frances, and who sent them asking if anyone would be interested in writing a book about her.
After someone else published a book first, Seward put the diaries away, rediscovering them while writing Catherine and Diana. She described them as "absolutely fascinating" and called Frances "very outspoken", adding the diaries "back up" the claim that the Spencers and the Royal Family were not "as one" following Diana's death.
Anger over Diana's death and a private conversation
Seward said Frances "was very angry with the royal family over the whole death of Diana and the way it was treated", recalling that at certain moments in the service the Spencers had to be there over half an hour before the royals arrived and had to keep bobbing up and down as members of the family came in.
The biographer also shared a conversation she had with Diana before her death at Kensington Palace, in which Diana said it was "important" for people to know that she and Charles loved each other. Diana did not want their sons to believe their father did not love her, and touched on the love letters Charles had written her, which are currently in the royal archives.
Good Morning Britain airs on ITV weekdays from 6am. Ingrid Seward's book is available to buy from September 24.
