We follow the rocky journey towards their securing of a divorce settlement, with John Major<\/a> (played by Jonny Lee Miller) extending his ministerial role to royal mediator. But what truly happened in these final moments of the couple\u2019s separation?<\/p>\n Queen Elizabeth did write a letter to her daughter-in-law. \u201cI have consulted with the Archbishop of Canterbury and with the prime minister,\u201d she wrote, as said in The Royal Observer<\/em>. \u201cAnd, of course, with Charles, and we have decided that the best course for you is divorce.\u201d<\/p> The Queen was given approval for this request by both prime minister John Major and George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury.<\/p>\n \u201cThere comes a time, sad and painful as it is, that a marriage has to be recognised as dead, and after the shenanigans and tantrums of the past few weeks, it has been very publicly obvious that it does seem to have died,\u201d the Archdeacon of York, George Austin, told BBC television at the time.<\/p>\n It was just days after the Queen\u2019s letters were sent, on 21 December 1995, that Buckingham Palace<\/a> announced the separation: \u201cAfter considering the present situation,\u201d it said, \u201cthe Queen wrote to both the prince and princess earlier this week and gave them their view, supported by the Duke of Edinburgh, that an early divorce is desirable.\u201d<\/p>\n The agreement specified that the couple would share custody of Prince William and Prince Harry. Due to Diana not being an official member of the royal family, she was made to relinquish her title of \u2018Her Royal Highness\u2019 but was allowed to keep the title \u2018Princess of Wales\u2019.<\/p>\n 1986: Charles and Diana both have extramarital affairs \u2013 Charles with Camilla Parker Bowles, and Diana with Captain James Hewitt<\/p>\n 1987\u201392: The couple suffer rumours of marital trouble. In 1987, Diana\u2019s decision to not join the family\u2019s annual trip to Balmoral leads to headlines suggesting a \u201croyal break\u201d between the couple.<\/p>\n May 1992: Andrew Morton publishes Diana: Her True Story<\/em>, which shares details of the couple\u2019s collapsed marriage. The story behind the two\u2019s communication features in episode two of The Crown<\/em>.<\/p>\n December 1992: John Major announces Charles\u2019s and Diana\u2019s separation to the House of Commons.<\/p>\n November 1995: Diana sits down for an interview with BBC journalist Martin Bashir, on Panorama, which 23 million people tune in to watch. This is covered in episode eight of The Crown<\/em>.<\/p>\n August 1996: Charles and Diana officially divorce.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Diana would also retain full access to the royal family\u2019s private jets and her apartments at Kensington Palace. She was also able to use the state apartments at St James\u2019s Palace for entertaining, and keep the jewellery she had gained during her marriage to Charles.<\/p>\n The financial settlement between the couple has never been confirmed, but Diana is believed to have been given a lump sum of \u00a317m and an annual stipend of \u00a3400,000.<\/p>\n Richard Toye told HistoryExtra<\/em> that John Major \u201cmet separately with the Queen, Charles, and Diana, to discuss the issue before the couple\u2019s divorce in 1996. Major\u2019s biographer, Anthony Sheldon, later revealed that Diana sent the prime minister several appreciative letters.\u201d<\/p>\n Apart from this, there is little information regarding John Major\u2019s role in the divorce proceedings between Charles and Diana. He remains unrevealing over the conversations that did take place between him and the monarchy at the time; on 15 October 2022, his spokesperson said that \u201cdiscussions between the monarch and prime minster are entirely private and \u2013 for Sir John \u2013 will always remain so.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou are the rarest of things,\u201d the Queen tells John Major in The Crown<\/em>, \u201csomeone that is easy to like and trust.\u201d<\/p>\n Whilst these words are a fictional supposition, it is said that the two did share a close relationship due to Major supporting the Queen through her \u2018annus horribilis<\/a>\u2019 in 1992, along with the other scandals she faced during the 1990s.<\/p>\n Another sign of his closeness to the royal family was the appointing of Major as William and Harry\u2019s special guardian following the death of their mother, Diana. He was also the only ex-prime minister invited to Prince Harry\u2019s wedding to Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in 2018.<\/p>\n Mark Bolland, a British public relations executive, served as Deputy Private Secretary to Charles between 1997 and 2002. He is seen as a key figure in the rehabilitation of Charles\u2019s relationship with Camilla, following Charles\u2019s divorce with Diana and other scandals \u2013 including their intercepted call that included a conversation depicted in episode five. Bolland has sometimes been labelled by publications, including The Telegraph<\/em>, as the royal family\u2019s first \u2018spin doctor\u2019, which is the title Camilla (Olivia Williams) uses for him in The Crown<\/em>.<\/p>\nDid the Queen write letters to Charles and Diana, instructing that they must divorce?<\/h3>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>What did the divorce settlement between Charles and Diana entail?<\/h3>\n
A timeline of Charles\u2019s and Diana\u2019s Divorce<\/h4>\n
Did John Major play a mediatory role in the divorce proceedings?<\/h3>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Was John Major close with the Queen?<\/h3>\n
Was Mark Bolland hired by Camilla and Charles to repair their image?<\/h3>\n
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