King Charles III's recently unveiled letter, written four months after Princess Diana's passing, reveals the profound grief and emptiness he reportedly experienced following her death., reported the New York Post.
In the 1997 letter, the King expressed his condolences to a friend named Peter, who had lost his dear friend Liz to an illness.
Charles empathized with Peter's pain, wishing he could magically transform the situation and alleviate the confusion and bewilderment that comes with losing someone so young.
Drawing upon his Christian faith, the King quoted a verse from the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:12, which reads, "Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face." The identities of Peter and Liz remain unknown to royal experts, as reported by the Daily Mail.
The handwritten, three-page letter was penned on Highgrove House letterhead, dated December 8, 1997, and signed simply as "Charles." The then-Prince instructed that the letter be delivered "by hand" to the recipient. The letter is currently being auctioned by RR Auction in Boston, with a starting bid of $2,000 (£1,500) and bidding set to conclude on August 14.
An RR Auction spokesperson told the Daily Mail that Charles was likely experiencing heightened emotions when he wrote the letter, as it was just a few months after Princess Diana's tragic death in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997, at the age of 36.
In the letter, Charles expressed his deep sympathy for Peter's loss, acknowledging the agony and despair he must have endured throughout Liz's illness. He shared his belief in another dimension beyond the physical world and the comfort that can be found in the idea of being reunited with loved ones after death. The King also enclosed a short verse by William Blake and some "Highgrove things" as a token of his immense, affectionate sympathy.
Full letterHere's the full text of the letter written by King Charles III:
“I have been thinking so much of you yesterday and today, knowing how deeply you will be affected by yesterday’s tragic news about dear Liz.
My heart bleeds for you as I can imagine so well the utter agony and despair you must have gone through during all these heart-rendering months that you have known about Liz’s illness.
All of us who know you-and are so fond you both-have felt the agony in a far lesser way of course, but have longed to wave a magic wand to transform the situation.
I often think that that is the worst part of all-being unable to help in any constructive way except to say constant prayers in the background & to try and surround you both with love & affection & concern.
I can so well imagine the unbearable emptiness you must feel at this time; the sense of bewilderment & confusion that accompanies the removal of someone still so young from this world.
Personally, I believe that there is another dimension beyond this physical one & that we will be amazed to discover it for ourselves when we are eventually-or at a moment-called upon to make that certain journey for ourselves.”
As it says in the Bible — ‘Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face’.
I can’t tell you how pleased & happy I am to have known Liz. She was such a great life-enhancer.
We shall all have such special memories of her but, above all, Peter, we mind about you & you are so very much in my thoughts and prayers at this most anguishing of times.
I thought you might just find a very small speck of comfort from this short piece of profoundly wise verse by William Blake and, together with this, I enclose a few ‘Highgrove things’ as a token of immense, affectionate sympathy.”