While Prince William’s christening on August 4, 1982, may have looked like a regal affair to outsiders, Princess Diana wasn’t a fan of the official royal event. In fact, during an interview with her biographer, the former Princess of Wales revealed why the milestone was so “ghastly,” and made worse by other members of the Royal Family.
In Andrew Morton’s book, Diana: Her True Story—In Her Own Words, the princess recalled attending Prince William’s christening. Having welcomed her first child on June 21, 1982, Princess Diana was experiencing postpartum depression, and she felt as though her husband’s family didn’t support her.
“Nobody asked me when it was suitable for William,” Diana said of the date and time of the christening (via the Daily Mail). “11 a.m. couldn’t have been worse. Endless pictures of The Queen, Queen Mother, Charles, and William. I was excluded totally that day.”
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“I was excluded totally that day.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Diana further explained, “I felt desperate because I had literally just given birth. William was only 6 weeks old and it was all decided around me. Hence the ghastly pictures.” Reflecting on the most difficult aspects of the day, Diana told Morton, “I wasn’t very well and I just blubbed my eyes out. William started crying too. Well, he just sensed that I wasn’t exactly hunky dory.”
“William started crying too.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Further conflict arose when it came to giving William his moniker. “Charles wanted to call his first son Arthur and his second Albert, after Queen Victoria’s consort,” Morton revealed in his biography of Diana. “William and Harry were Diana’s choices while her husband’s preferences were used in their children’s middle names.”
Sadly, it sounds as though William’s christening wasn’t the favorable moment it should have been for his mother Diana.
