By Richard Eden and Jessica Taylor for MailOnline
22:06 07 March 2023, updated 22:55 07 March 2023
While most of Britain had wedding fever ahead of Prince Charles’ wedding to Lady Diana Spencer, a close relationship refused to get caught up in the excitement.
Diana’s aunt, Mary Roche, who died last Friday at the age of 88, had an eerie sense of foreboding.
He saw his niece ‘unhappy’ at the pre-wedding reception at Buckingham Palace in 1981, where others reported the bride was in good form.
Having shared a close relationship with Diana when she was growing up, Mary knew her to be ‘very natural and jovial, a lot of fun’.
She could tell when Diana was being herself. “I remember she was unhappy at that reception,” he later revealed.
Mary, daughter of the fourth Lord Fermoy, was the elder sister of Francis Shand Kyd, Diana’s mother. His father was a friend of George VI and the eldest son of the American heir apparent, Francis Allen Work. His mother, Ruth, was a confidante and lady-in-waiting to the Queen Mother.
Mary later admitted that she thought her 20-year-old niece was incompatible with the future King Charles, who was 33 at the time.
‘They were at very different stages of development,’ she explained. ‘Diana was young and had limited life experience, and Prince Charles was already a great thinker. He read a lot. They were, perhaps, different people.’
Diana’s death was not the only tragedy Mary suffered. Her first ex-husband, Tory MP Sir Anthony Berry, was murdered by the IRA in the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing. He was the son of Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley, former co-owner of The Daily Telegraph.
Mary married and divorced twice more. His sister, Frances, died in 2004 at the age of 68.
Could warring princes William and Harry reunite for their mother’s aunt’s funeral?
Royal fans are speculating whether Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will travel to the UK to reunite with family for King Charles’ coronation in May.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed they had received an invitation to the coronation, but did not say whether they would attend.
The coronation, which is set to be watched by millions of people in the UK and potentially billions around the world, will take place on May 6 – the same day as Harry’s son Archie’s fourth birthday.
The news comes days after Charles moved his son and daughter-in-law out of their British home, Frogmore Cottage, a move that is thought to complicate the California-based couple’s future travel to the UK.