Princess Diana Devoured 'Pulp Romance’ In Teenage, Wanted To Cancel Marriage

A new book by royal author Catherine Mayer explores how Princess Diana’s remarkable compassion and deep belief in romantic love were shaped by her upbringing.

18 Jun 2026, 17:00 · NDTV

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Princess Diana’s compassion was evident long before she became one of the world’s most beloved royals, according to a new book.
In Divide and Rule: Royal Women and Their Battles, royal author Catherine Mayer revealed that Diana was exceptionally empathetic from a young age.
Mayer writes that Diana’s childhood experiences also shaped her outlook on relationships

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Princess Diana's compassion was evident long before she became one of the world's most beloved royals, according to a new book. In Divide and Rule: Royal Women and Their Battles, journalist and royal author Catherine Mayer revealed that Diana was exceptionally empathetic from a young age.

Drawing on accounts from friends and contemporaries, Mayer examines the lives of royal women, personal relationships, family dynamics and competing expectations that have shaped not only Diana, but the modern British royal family itself.

One section focuses on Diana, highlighting her empathy, commitment to helping others and deep belief in romantic love.

According to the book, Diana showed remarkable compassion from a young age. Long before she became the “People's Princess,” Diana's friends recalled her compassion for a young woman.

While at school, she spent extra time visiting an elderly woman as part of a community service programme. While many of her contemporaries did the bare minimum demanded of them, Diana often went beyond what was required. She sometimes even bunked classes to see her new and lonely charge

“She was, without doubt, one of the most compassionate and empathetic people I've ever met,” says one of her oldest friends.

Her empathy later became a defining part of her public life. In 1987, Diana made headlines when she held the hand of an AIDS patient, helping challenge myths around the transmission of the disease and the homophobia of diagnosis. She also made many private visits to patients and was known for her warm, affectionate nature.

Princess Diana's Childhood Experiences

Mayer writes that Diana's childhood experiences also shaped her outlook on relationships. The breakdown of her parents' marriage left a lasting impact and strengthened her desire for a lasting romance.

As a teenager, Diana was an avid reader of romance novels written by her step-grandmother, bestselling author Barbara Cartland, who showered Diana's world with pulp romance. Friends recalled that she read the books in large numbers, embracing their fairy-tale view of love.

“The source of reading for her entire year. She literally had a whole drawer filled with these things,” one of her school friends told Mayer.

Fairy-Tale Expectations Met Harsh Reality

The book suggests that these romantic ideals may have influenced Diana's expectations of her relationship with then-Prince Charles. However, her hopes for a storybook romance ultimately clashed with reality as their marriage struggled.

Mayer writes that Charles appeared to fit the archetype of the emotionally reserved romantic hero common in Cartland's novels. However, the reality of their relationship proved far more complicated than the fairy-tale narratives Diana admired.

As their wedding approached in 1981, doubts reportedly emerged. According to Mayer, Diana expressed a desire to cancel the wedding in its final days, only to be told by her sisters that it was too late to back out.

Diana's friends also reportedly sensed tension and uncertainty, noting Charles' behaviour before the ceremony. Charles seemed highly strung and petulant, getting himself in a lather about the loss of a cufflink just before the pre-wedding ball at Buckingham Palace. They later understood the significance of the item, part of a set given to him by Camilla [Parker Bowles], as Diana was well aware.

A Marriage Burdened by Expectations

Mayer ultimately portrays the marriage between Diana and Charles as a union of two individuals carrying personal emotional burdens while operating within an institution struggling to adapt to a changing world.

On July 29, 1981, Diana and Charles tied the knot under intense global scrutiny. The relationship, under the glare of world attention, became one of the most closely examined and turbulent marriages in modern royal history.

The book suggests that conflicting expectations, personal insecurities and the pressures of royal duty combined to create challenges neither was fully prepared to overcome.

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