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Queen Elizabeth isn’t a stranger to meeting with a range of different people, which can be pleasant or unpleasant depending on the company.
But there was one person the queen dreaded meeting with, according to a royal expert – and that was the late Princess Diana, Marie Claire reports.
Diana reportedly visited her majesty on several occasions leading up to her separation from Prince Charles.
Royal expert Ingrid Seward revealed in her book The Queen & Di: The Untold Story that the monarch dreaded meetings with her former daughter-in-law because the conversations became too much to handle, Express UK reports.
This was during the Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles affair scandal, which saw Princess Di frequently visiting the queen to confide in her about her troubles.
"They left her feeling drained and despondent and confused – an uncommon state for a woman accustomed to the certainties of her position," Seward wrote.
As a result, the monarch began meeting with Diana less and less.
Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana (Photo: Getty/Gallo Images)
According to the expert, Diana had always interpreted the queen distancing herself as jealousy because the Princess of Wales had been so popular among the British public.
"Diana’s popularity was phenomenal but it wasn’t the first time the nation, or indeed the world, had fallen in love with a beautiful royal princess," writes royal author Penny Junor.
Queen Elizabeth had also experienced immense fame – like Diana – during her time as a princess.
Whether the queen’s distance was due to jealousy or discomfort because of awkward conversations, royal experts all agree their relationship weakened significantly over time.
Sources: Marie Claire, Express UK
