Princess Diana & Duchess Camilla's Relationship Was Reportedly Rife With Tension

Much has been said about the supposed love triangle between Princess Diana, Duchess Camilla, and Prince Charles. And although it is well known that Prince Charles and Princess Diana did not have the happiest of marriages, not as much has been said about the relationship between the two women in Prince Charles' life. So it's understandable why some people might be wondering whether Princess Diana and Duchess Camilla were friends before the royal's death in 1997.

According to interviews given by Princess Diana, conflict with the now Duchess of Cornwall began as early as the honeymoon in Diana and Charles' marriage. The late princess revealed during a series of secret interviews documented in Diana: In Her Own Words, that she always felt as if there were "three" people in her marriage, as noted in a review of the interviews by the Daily Express.

After the royal couple embarked on their trip to Gibraltar for what was supposed to be a romantic two-week getaway on a yacht cruise, Diana reportedly noticed her new husband wearing a pair of cufflinks with two letter "C"s engraved on them. When Diana reportedly confronted him about the accessories, he supposedly dismissed her.

"So I said 'Camilla gave you those didn't she?' He said, 'Yes, so what's wrong? They're a present from a friend," Diana recalled then, according to TODAY. "And boy, did we have a row. Jealousy, total jealousy. And it was such a good idea the two 'C's but it wasn't that clever."

Diana said, "We were opening our diaries to discuss various things. Out comes two pictures of Camilla."

The late princess revealed via a letter written in August 1981 that the trip was no fairytale and instead turned out to be a "a perfect opportunity to catch up on sleep," according to The Telegraph.

But even then, the princess couldn't catch a moment of peace. "My dreams were appalling at night, I dreamt of Camilla the whole time," she said, and noted that her long-time struggle with bulimia worsened during the yacht trip. "Everybody saw me getting thinner and thinner and thinner, and I was getting sicker and sicker and sicker."

At one point, the late princess even confronted her husband's supposed mistress about the affair. According to the series of recordings from National Geographic, Princess Diana pulled Camilla aside, noting that Camilla looked "uncomfortable." Diana, according to her own retelling, told Camilla that she knew "exactly what was going on," to which Camilla reportedly responded, according to Reader's Digest: "I don't know what you're talking about."

When Princess Diana reaffirmed that she knew of the alleged affair between Camilla and her husband, the Duchess of Cornwall reportedly responded, "You've got everything you've ever wanted. All the men in the world fall in love with you." When Camilla supposedly asked, "what more could [Princess Diana] want," Diana replied according to the Daily Express, "I want my husband."

Ultimately, Prince Charles later admitted to infidelity in 1994 and the couple finally divorced in 1996. And although I'm sure there are many layers to Princess Diana's relationship with Duchess Camilla, I think it's safe to say they weren't friends.