King Charles Wrote of ‘Unbearable Emptiness’ in Unearthed Letter Written Months After Princess Diana’s Death

A letter King Charles wrote in the immediate aftermath of Princess Diana’s Aug. 31, 1997, death is shedding new light on his grief.

The King, who was then Prince Charles, wrote about “unbearable emptiness” just under four months after the late Princess of Wales died in a car accident in Paris. The letter, sent to Peter Houghton, recently sold at auction for $2,000

It is clear in the letter that Houghton is also grieving, as the former Prince of Wales writes that his heart “bleeds” for him following the death of “dear Liz” (who the royal referred to as a “life-enhancer”) after an illness. Charles added that he could imagine the “agony” Houghton was going through and “longed to wave a magic wand to transform the situation.”

The letter then addresses his “bewilderment and confusion that accompanies the removal of someone so young from the world” — a familiar feeling, as his ex-wife, Princess Diana, was just 36 at the time of her death.

The three-page handwritten letter was written on Highgrove House letterhead and dated Dec. 8, 1997, just over three months after Princess Diana died, leaving behind sons Prince William and Prince Harry, then just 15 and 12, respectively. It is signed “Charles” and has its original envelope included in the sale, which had the future monarch’s instructions for the letter to be delivered “by hand.” Per the Daily Express, the seller of the letter is unknown.

The letter’s sale was handled by RR Auction out of Boston, and a spokesperson for the company said that “this lengthy handwritten letter to ‘Peter’ expresses his sympathy upon the death of a loved one. Charles was likely particularly emotional at the time he wrote the letter, as Princess Diana had tragically passed away just a few months before in August 1997.”

The letter also elaborates on the royal’s Christian faith and his beliefs on what happens when someone dies, quoting a Bible passage that reads, “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face-to-face.” He added, “Personally, I believe that there is another dimension beyond this physical one and that we will be amazed to discover it for ourselves when we are eventually — or at a moment — called upon to make that certain journey for ourselves.”

Prince Harry, Princess Diana’s younger son, arrived in Colombia with his wife, Meghan Markle, on Aug. 15. During a breakfast meeting that morning with the South American country’s vice president Francia Márquez and her husband, Rafael Yerney Pinillo, Márquez shared her admiration for Princess Diana with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Earlier in the day at a press conference ahead of the couple’s arrival, Márquez was asked about a trip Princess Diana planned to make to Colombia shortly before her death.

“I think that Prince Harry being here today after that dream of his mum’s of visiting this country is an opportunity to show the best of our nation, to show who Colombians are,” she said. “We are people who, in the midst of adversities, do everything possible to give the best of ourselves.”

Prince Harry, 39, and Meghan, 43, will visit the cities of Bogotá, Cartagena and Cali during their visit to Colombia.