Marie Sutton first met Princess Diana in 1983 at an exclusive afternoon tea in the Hunter Valley, Australia. “There weren’t many people invited, so that was an exciting day. She was very shy, and relied on her PR team and a lady in waiting. However, everyone wanted her and not Charles,” Marie tells the Woman’s Day podcast team exclusively. “I remember her being very tall and having this great smile; she had the ‘X-factor.'”
It wasn’t long until the pair started talking and the People’s Princess left a real impression on stoic Marie. Soon after their first meeting, Marie asked the princess to come back to Australia to be a guest speaker at a Victor Chang fundraiser ball. “I got a letter asking me who I thought would be a good guest speaker for the ball and I happened to say, Princess Diana. Well, I don’t think anyone believed me.”
Marie was shocked when, after extending the invitation, she received a phone call from Princess Diana herself, thanking her for the offer and saying she’d love to be there. After that, the two spoke often and became very close. Diana even opened up about her relationship with Charles.
Princess Diana and Prince Charles.
“She went a week before they were married without talking to him. I don’t think they had anything in common,” Marie revealed. “She was young, and he was a historian. She was fun loving, very, very strong, and very rebellious. She hated being told what to do. She wanted that normal existence, but she was never going to get it. She was the mother of the future king. I always changed the subject to the boys when she got upset. I can remember her saying these words: ‘I would go to any lengths for my boys,’ and she would. She adored them.”
Princess Diana, Prince William and Harry.
Marie also revealed what Diana would have thought of Prince Harry marrying Meghan. “She would have been happy whoever they married. She wanted both sons to be happy,” Marie tells the Woman’s Day podcast team. “She would have been more stringent on [Prince] William’s choice, because of his role. She had different ways with both of the boys. She brought up William ready for his future role, whereas, with [Prince] Harry, he was the fun child and she had a special place in her heart for him. Harry was just a naughty boy, and you can see from his behavior after his mother died, and he was behind that coffin, and it was too hard for any boy his age.”
This article originally appeared on Woman’s World.
