Princess Diana’s – A handwritten letter penned by Princess Diana on September 27, 1981—gushing about a “blissful” honeymoon with then-Prince Charles—has surfaced ahead of an auction on July 7. The note, written to former school friend Katherine Hanbury, captures Diana’s early op
The honeymoon glow didn’t last in the public story—but in one handwritten letter, Princess Diana sounded fully convinced it had begun something wonderful.
In a note dated September 27. 1981. Diana wrote to her former school friend Katherine Hanbury. describing her first months as a newly married woman as she and then-Prince Charles settled into royal life. She looked back at their 12-day Mediterranean cruise aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia and called it “blissful. ” adding that they had “endless sun and luckily calm seas.”.
Diana then mixed affection with candor. “I adore being outside all day & hate London!” she wrote. She also pointed to the couple’s next stop: “We’re now up in Scotland until the end of October, which is a big treat for us!”
At just 20 years old, Diana was still standing on the edge of the life she had just stepped into. Charles was 32 when they married at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London in July 1981. In the same letter. she sounded delighted by the change itself. writing. “It’s wonderful being married — I think it’s safe to say that after two months…!”.
The handwritten message is part of a small collection of Diana memorabilia now heading to auction. It goes under the hammer at Gorringe’s Fine Art & Interiors on July 7—six days after what would have been Diana’s 65th birthday. and timed to coincide with what would have been the 45th anniversary of her wedding to Charles. The collection is expected to sell for between $5,000 and $8,000.
The letter was penned from Balmoral Castle, where the newlyweds stayed for several months after returning from their honeymoon.
Beyond the honeymoon, Diana’s handwriting shows a woman trying to make sense of the rules around her. She joked to Hanbury: “It’s a case of playing with grown-ups!” The line lands differently when set against what eventually unfolded later—after their marriage unraveled in front of the world.
The auction collection doesn’t stop at letters. It also includes rare school photographs showing Diana long before she became a global icon. One image places her among classmates, including Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton and filmmaker Joanna Hogg. Other snapshots show Diana outside the art room and near the school’s playing fields.
Albert Radford. books and manuscripts specialist at Gorringe’s. described the archive as “a rare glimpse of Diana. Princess of Wales. before duty and fame had the final say.” He said the correspondence and recollections from West Heath Girls’ School present Diana “deeply unassuming and domestically minded. ” with “real ambition” focused on “simply to have a family and take pride in ordinary things.”.
Radford also said Hanbury remembered Diana “volunteering to clean the house of the headmistress” while they were students together. “It is memories like this and the collection that has come to light. that present the real young Diana in a way that is completely at odds with the public persona that was created by others. ” he added.
He described the school photographs as traces of a young woman “suspended between love and history. ” “hopeful. unguarded and not yet entirely claimed by the institution that would come to define her.” In those “small. fragile traces. ” he said. “innocence lingers — along with a quiet. stubborn belief in something as simple and elusive as love.”.
The turning points eventually came. Charles and Diana’s marriage unraveled after the couple welcomed their sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. In the wake of infidelity and unhappiness. they formally separated in 1992 and finalized their divorce in 1996—just a year before Diana died at 36 following a tragic car crash in Paris.
But the letter now headed to auction draws a clear line back to the beginning—when Diana could still write, in plain ink and looped cursive, that being married felt like a “big treat,” and that the future looked bright enough to enjoy.
Princess Diana Katherine Hanbury Royal Yacht Britannia Balmoral Castle honeymoon letter auction July 7 St. Paul's Cathedral Charles and Diana