Prince Charles’ love letters reveal his fears of divorce from Diana

A collection of six love letters written by Prince Charles is up for auction. They are being sold by Alicia Carroll, a Los Angeles-based collector and dealer of British royal memorabilia. It is expecting to sell them for around Au $5,310.

Earlier, Carroll had tried to sell the letters on eBay in 2009, with a price tag of Au $44,095 (£20,744). At the time, a buyer had shown interest in the collection, but the sale did not happen because the buyer’s credit card was declined, AFP reported.

The contents of the letter have come to light after they were put up for auction in the United States. In a seven-page letter written by Charles in June 1980, nearly 11 months before his wedding to Lady Diana Spencer, the now 66-year-old royal revealed his fear of getting divorced from Diana.

This note, handwritten in Charles’ trademark scrawl on Windsor Castle letterhead, was signed off: “With much love, Charles.” It was reportedly written to his old flame Janet Jenkins, a receptionist at the British consulate in Montreal, Canada.

Prince Charles revealed that he was anxious about the prospect of getting divorced from Diana, and he shared his “enormous concern” about the effect such a relationship would have on children -- that he and Diana may have in the future -- after their separation.

Jenkins, his ex-girlfriend, had at the time just been divorced from her husband. Charles wrote to his former flame that she was lucky to have discovered her mistake early enough and did not start a family.

“I shall just have to get married as soon as possible and then all these people might relax a little! I still think my solution of marrying a girl from each Commonwealth country is the best one,” the second in line to the British throne wrote to Jenkins.

The other five love letters were penned in 1976 when the Prince was 26 and a Royal Navy officer on HMS Bronington, while the Welsh-born Jenkins was 30. The two first met when Prince visited Montreal while in the Navy in 1975.

Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales married Diana in July 1981 . Charles and Diana separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. A year later, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris.

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