Princess Diana’s first Christmas after Charles split – heartbreaking way she spent it

Princess Diana’s split from Prince Charles left her with a change of plans for the festive period.

The Princess of Wales split with the now King of England back in the mid-1990s and decided it would be more appropriate to cancel her plans of spending Christmas at the Sandringham Estate. She was set to sit in with Prince Harry, Prince William, the at-the-time Prince of Wales, Charles, as well as Queen Elizabeth II. Instead of making the trip to the royal estate in Norfolk, Princess Diana spent the festive period away from her family in her Kensington Palace apartment.

The festivities of 1995 were a far stretch from the family fun of the previous few years for Princess Diana. She took a number of sleeping pills to get through the day. She had spent Christmas with the rest of the Royal Family since 1992 despite her separation from Prince Charles.

She decided to keep her distance from the royals on this particular year. Her absence from the Christmas celebrations was noted by the Sandringham attendees though, which led to a “rather strained atmosphere”, according to instyle. A friend of Princess Diana further alleged her reception at these Christmas events was “frosty” and the Royal Family was not keen on her appearances. Richard Kay, a friend of the late Princess, believed she was not always welcome at the get-together.

Recalling a trip in 1993, Mr Kay said Princess Diana had “stayed overnight and went with everyone to church” but did not stick around for much longer, the Daily Express reported. He wrote: “But she didn’t stay for lunch. Instead, she went home alone to Kensington Palace and spent the rest of the day there before flying to Washington to stay with friends”.

Just a half hour after the service had ended, according to Mr Kay, Diana had been “at the wheel of her dark green Jaguar speeding back to London” from St Mary’s Magdalene Church on Sandringham Estate. He added: “‘If I had been photographed as some sort of lady bountiful, my husband’s family would have been in uproar, accusing me of a stunt,’ she later confided.” Diana and Charles divorced in 1996, with the Princess of Wales spending her last Christmas alone as she decided not to attend Sandringham Estate.