Freshly declassified Irish government documents have cast new light on the intense media rivalry between the then Prince and Princess of Wales, revealing that Diana's team was perceived as highly adept at orchestrating publicity to overshadow Charles.
The 1995 Irish Visit: A PR Rehabilitation Effort
The papers, released by the National Archives of Ireland, centre on Prince Charles's two-day visit to Ireland in June 1995. This trip occurred three years after his formal separation from Diana and was viewed by his aides as a crucial part of a long-term strategy to improve his public image in Britain.
Charles's press operation, led initially by press secretary Alan Percival and later by his successor Sandy Henney, told Irish officials they believed the Irish engagement was "the best public outing the Prince has had in a very long time". They characterised the visit as a key move to rehabilitate his reputation following the tumultuous and highly publicised breakdown of his marriage.
'Fiercely Loyal' Aides and a 'Predatory' Media Strategy
The documents offer a candid glimpse into the mindset of Charles's team. Sandy Henney was described by Irish Department of Foreign Affairs officials as "fiercely loyal" to Charles and "alive to every opportunity to advance his cause".
However, the files also record a striking assessment of the opposing camp. In a memo, Irish official Joe Hayes recounted a conversation with Henney, who remarked that if past behaviour was any guide, an approach from Princess Diana wishing to visit Ireland might be expected.
"I took this as a joke until she repeated it and assured me that in the media battle between the two, the Princess was by far the more predatory and skilled and her staff devoted a great deal of time to finding ways and means of upstaging St James's Palace," Hayes wrote.
UK Coverage 'Positive but Light' Compared to Irish Frenzy
The released correspondence notes that both British and Irish officials observed a stark contrast in media coverage of the trip. While reporting in the UK was "though positive, relatively light", the visit commanded extensive and detailed attention across Irish media outlets.
This disparity highlights how Charles's team saw the international trip as a controlled environment to garner favourable press, albeit one that still operated under the long shadow of his ongoing public relations war with Diana. The revelations, contained in file 2025/124/160, underscore the calculated and often fraught nature of royal media management during one of the monarchy's most turbulent modern periods.
