Prince Harry and Prince William’s late mother Princess Diana was hugely ‘distressed’ by the now King Charles’ claims that he’d never loved her and reportedly made a ‘horrifying’ move to prove him wrong

Prince Philip is said to have given Charles an ultimatum over his relationship with Diana(Image: Mirrorpix)

The breakdown of Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ marriage was one of the most bitter splits in royal history.

But tensions only got worse when Charles hit back at Diana’s explosive 1995 interview with Martin Bashir, by releasing his own brutal account of their doomed marriage.

In the bombshell book, Prince of Wales: A Biography by Jonathan Dimbleby, the now-King claimed he’d never truly loved Diana, adding he only wed her because of pressure from his father, the late Prince Philip.

The author writes that Phillip was concerned that Diana’s reputation would be ‘compromised’ by her frequent visits to Balmoral and told his son to either end things or propose.

Diana was crushed by Charles’ claims(Image: Getty Images)

“The prince interpreted his father’s attitude as an ultimatum,” the biography stated, maintaining Charles wed Diana in 1981 whilst in a “confused and anxious state of mind”.

Diana was crushed, and seven days after the book was first published in excerpts across the national newspapers, a Palace source speaking with her consent contacted the now-defunct News of the World.

The confidant revealed that Diana was ‘deeply upset’ by Charles’ assertions and questioned editor Piers Morgan whether he recalled a collection of photographs of the pair during their second honeymoon in the Bahamas.

Diana wanted newspapers to publish some photos to ‘prove Charles loved her’(Image: (Image: Hulton Archive/Getty Images))

“The snaps, she believed, were not published at the time because they were deemed too intrusive, but she would have no argument if we wanted to run them now,” Piers wrote in his autobiography, Insider. The reason? “Because ‘they prove he loved me.”

Piers went on: “It’s extraordinary she would do this, but also an indication of how hurt she’s been by this particular revelation.

The late Queen was reportedly horrified by Diana’s shock move(Image: Getty Images)

“We checked the safe, and sure enough there was a set of amazing photos of Diana and Charles… looking for all the world like the most loving couple imaginable. We ran them under the headline THE LIAR KING.”

The holiday in question is thought to have been a 10-day break they enjoyed on Windermere Island, Eleuthera, while Diana was expecting Prince William.

The snaps captured her and Charles chuckling, embracing and mucking about on the shoreline, with Diana sporting a bikini.

Years afterwards, royal expert Ingrid Seward would reveal just how livid the late Queen had been regarding the pictures.

The monarch was so incensed that she reportedly called in the editors of the nation’s leading newspapers and pleaded with them not to print them.

Discussing the monarch’s irate response, Ms Seward remarked: “The Queen was very annoyed and horrified about this.”