In a bombshell revelation from his newly released memoirs, Spain's former King Juan Carlos has painted a startling portrait of Princess Diana, describing her as "cold and distant" in private moments while transforming completely when cameras appeared.
The Royal Encounter That Shocked a King
The former monarch, who abdicated in 2014, provides intimate details about his encounters with the People's Princess during her visits to Spain. According to his account, Diana displayed a remarkable Jekyll-and-Hyde personality that left the Spanish royal astonished.
"She was completely different when the press was there," Juan Carlos writes in his memoir, highlighting the dramatic transformation he witnessed in Diana's behaviour whenever paparazzi were present.
Denying Decades of Romance Rumours
In what may be the memoir's most anticipated revelation, the 86-year-old former king firmly shuts down long-standing speculation about a romantic relationship between them. "There was never any affair," he states unequivocally, putting to rest rumours that have circulated through royal circles for decades.
The denial comes as particularly significant given the timing of their friendship, which flourished during the turbulent final years of Diana's marriage to Prince Charles and coincided with Juan Carlos's own marital difficulties.
The Paparazzi Phenomenon
Juan Carlos's observations provide fascinating insight into Diana's complex relationship with the media:
- Her immediate transformation when cameras appeared
- The stark contrast between her private and public personas
- Her apparent awareness of and adaptation to media presence
These revelations add new depth to our understanding of how Diana mastered her relationship with the press, even as it ultimately contributed to her tragic death in 1997.
A Royal Friendship Remembered
The memoir offers rare personal insight from one European monarch about another prominent royal figure. Juan Carlos and Diana developed a friendship during the early 1990s, with the Spanish king hosting the Princess of Wales on several occasions at the Marivent Palace in Mallorca.
His account suggests a relationship built on mutual understanding of the pressures of royal life, rather than the romantic connection that gossip columns frequently speculated about.
The revelations come as Juan Carlos continues to live in self-imposed exile from Spain amid ongoing financial scandals, making this memoir one of his few direct communications with the public in recent years.
