Diana’s workforce devoted time to ‘upstaging’ Charles, newly-released paperwork declare | EUROtoday

Diana, Princess of Wales, was thought-about “far more” adept at navigating the media panorama than Charles, then Prince of Wales, newly-declassified paperwork have revealed.

The paperwork from the National Archives of Ireland reveal that Diana’s employees have been actively engaged in “upstaging” St James’ Palace throughout their extremely publicised separation.

These information additionally make clear Charles’s two-day go to to Ireland in June 1995, following his 1992 cut up from Diana.

His inside circle reportedly seen the in depth protection of this journey as an important element of a “long-term public relations strategy to rehabilitate the Prince in the eyes of the British public” within the wake of their high-profile divorce.

Charles’s press workforce, led by press secretary Alan Percival and his successor Sandy Henney, had reported to Irish officers that they felt the go to to Ireland was “the best public outing the Prince has had in a very long time”.

Ms Henney was described within the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs’ doc as “fiercely loyal” to Charles and “alive to every opportunity to advance his cause”.

A Department of Foreign Affairs word reveals officers have been not sure if she was joking when she recommended that Diana can also need to go to Ireland.

“Henney (who would have been less aware of the political dimension than the more restrained Percival) told me that if she had any say in it the Prince would be here again before the summer was out,” in response to the doc.

“She also remarked that if practice to date was any guide we could shortly expect an approach from Princess Diana!”

Department of Foreign Affairs official Joe Hayes added: “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’ Palace.”

Charles’ officers agreed with the Irish diplomats that protection of the go to within the UK was, whereas optimistic, “relatively light” in contrast with that in Ireland.

It was famous by officers on either side of the Irish Sea that, in distinction with the blanket protection in Ireland, the protection of the go to within the UK was “though positive, relatively light” in tone.

This article relies on paperwork contained within the file labelled 2025/124/160 within the National Archives of Ireland.