King Charles Was 'Infuriated' by Princess Diana's Tense 1989 'Clash' With Camilla Amid Their Affair: 'It Pricked His Ego'
Princess Diana confronted Charles and Camilla at a party in 1989.
Nov. 13 2026, Published 6:51 p.m. ET
Princess Diana famously confronted her husband, then-Prince Charles, and Camilla Parker Bowles about their affair in 1989.
One day before the King turns 78, RadarOnline.com revisits his extramarital romance that led to an infamously tense "clash" at a private birthday party.
Princess Diana 'Challenged Camilla' at Party
The altercation occurred at a birthday party for Annabel Goldsmith.
One of Diana's former bodyguards, Ken Wharfe, has recounted the heated exchange – which he claims he was asked to witness – several times over the years.
During a birthday bash for Lady Annabel Goldsmith, Charles and Camilla reportedly went off together to talk.
According to an excerpt from Tom Bower's book Rebel King: The Making of a Monarch, Diana "arrived unexpectedly."
"Charles was with Diana, while both (Camilla and then-husband Andrew Parker Bowles) were already there," he wrote. "As the room fell suddenly silent, Diana challenged Camilla to leave Charles alone. In response Camilla ‘controlled her fury’ and told the princess that her behavior was ‘unacceptable in a private house.'"
Charles Was 'Infuriated' With Princess Diana Over the Incident
King Charles was unhappy with Diana after the incident, according to a source.
According to a royal source, Charles was "infuriated" by Diana's "clash" with Camilla.
"It pricked his ego that she’d have the nerve to interfere in his ‘private life’ – and Camilla nagged him constantly about how Diana showed them both up," added the source in an interview shared with Radar.
Princess Diana Was 'Elated' After Confrontation
Diana's ex-bodyguard Ken Wharfe wrote about the incident in his memoir.
In Wharfe's 2002 memoir, Diana: Closely Guarded Secret, he claimed that Charles "made his displeasure" obvious by "needling Diana constantly."
As for the mother-of-two, she was quite pleased with herself, according to her former bodyguard.
After the confrontation, Wharfe penned, "Diana emerged, elated, and held her head high as she walked back to the party. A few minutes later, Charles and Camilla appeared, looking shaken."
Princess Diana Was Once 'Terrified' of Camilla Parker Bowles
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Princess Diana admitted to being intimidated by Camilla in recordings.
In a series of tapes, Diana herself also touched on the altercation and admitted that she had been "terrified" of Camilla.
"But I said, ‘I know what’s going on between you and Charles,'" she recalled. "I told her I knew she’d schemed to wreck my marriage, that what they’d been up to was disgusting – that they were both married and had children."
"She said to me: 'You’ve got everything you ever wanted. You’ve got all the men in the world fall in love with you, and you’ve got two beautiful children, what more do you want?'" Diana continued in the famed recordings.
Diana had four key words in response: "I want my husband."
She added, "I said to Camilla, 'I’m sorry I’m in the way ... and it must be h--- for both of you. But I do know what’s going on. Don’t treat me like an idiot.'"
Charles and Diana did not officially separate until three years later, in 1992. Their divorce was finalized in 1996.
Diana tragically passed away on August 31, 1997, after getting into a car accident in Paris. She was only 36.
