EXCLUSIVE: Inside the 'Horrific' Royal Tour That Spelled the End of Princess Diana's Nightmarish Marriage to Charles
Diana's nightmarish royal tour marked the collapse of her troubled marriage to Charles.
Nov. 9 2025, Published 3:00 p.m. ET
Princess Diana's final overseas tour with Prince Charles – the ill-fated 1992 "Togetherness Tour" of South Korea – proved to be the breaking point in their crumbling marriage, with aides, photographers and biographers now recalling the "dreadful" trip that made their separation inevitable.
By November 1992, the Prince and Princess of Wales had been married 11 years, but RadarOnline.com can reveal any pretense of marital harmony had long vanished.
Their tour of Seoul, intended to showcase British diplomacy and unity, instead exposed the deep rift between the couple to the world. Nicknamed "The Glums" by the press for their joyless expressions, Charles, then 44 and Diana, 31, appeared visibly miserable – their strained body language confirming what many already suspected.
The Breaking Point
During the trip, 'there wasn't a hint of closeness or kindness between them.'
Royal biographer Andrew Morton wrote by the time the trip began, "the separation negotiations had reached a critical stage, and the princess was in no mood to continue the hollow charade."
He added in South Korea, Diana was "determined to show the world what was really going on."
A former palace aide said: "It was excruciating to witness. There wasn't a hint of closeness or kindness between them – just two people performing out of obligation. Everyone there knew their marriage was finished."
The Near-Cancelled Tour
Diana reluctantly boarded the plane after the Queen’s intervention.
But the tour almost didn't happen at all. According to biographer Jonathan Dimbleby, Diana "unexpectedly announced that she was not prepared to go" just three months before departure, forcing royal staff into panic mode as they contemplated the diplomatic fallout of her absence.
The standoff became a "showdown," until Queen Elizabeth II personally intervened. Dimbleby said: "Finally, the prince told her bluntly that she would have to come up with an explanation of her own for staying behind. At this, the princess finally relented, saying meekly that, as the Queen had asked her to go, she would, after all, accompany him."
Icy Demeanor in Seoul
Journalists questioned the status of Charles and Diana’s marriage.
But once in Seoul, any hopes of reconciliation between Charles and Diana evaporated. The royal couple's icy demeanor was impossible to disguise.
Former royal press secretary Dickie Arbiter, who traveled with them, remembered the moment the plane door opened, saying: "As the door to the aircraft opened, I turned to the protection officer and said, 'We've lost this one.' The prince and the princess were the epitome of Mr. and Mrs. Glum – her expression pinched and pale, his rigid and morose."
Arbiter continued: "Their body language was so hostile it was as if they could have killed each other with a single glance. The dark cloud hanging over them would remain throughout the tour."
When asked by a journalist whether the couple's marriage was still intact, Arbiter replied, "All marriages have their problems."
He later admitted: "It was an attempt to deflect the question, but I pretty much gave credence to all the rumors we'd spent months trying to quash."
Diana’s Heartbreak and the Final Separation
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By the tour's end, aides recognized the marriage has irreparably ended.
Photographer Jayne Fincher, who was also on the trip, said Diana "looked lovely but she'd been crying her eyes out. She looked awful. My heart went out to her."
By the end of the week, even Diana's aides accepted the marriage was finished. One recalled "she could no longer endure her marriage and wanted to break free, whatever the consequences."
Charles himself wrote privately at the time: "The strain is immense. And yet I want to do my duty in the way I've been trained. I don't know what will happen from now on, but I dread it."
A month later, on December 9, 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced the Prince and Princess of Wales had formally separated – ending one of the most troubled royal marriages in history.
