Who knew? Princess Diana was one of the most well-known and loved members of the royal family to ever live, but behind closed doors, she didn’t quite feel like that.

In fact, the late beauty opened up about her husband Prince Charles’ ongoing affair with Camilla Parker Bowles in a secret biography right after their highly-publicized split. And now, her biographer is sharing how Di escaped her “sense of being a prisoner” in the royal family through those private interviews with him.

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“It explained Diana’s feelings, her sense of isolation, her sense of being a prisoner,” Andrew Morton, author of Diana: Her True Story, told People in a new interview. “Once that leached into the popular imagination and people got to understand who she was as a three-dimensional character, then people responded to her.”

He added, “And you could see that people wanted the Diana monarchy, one that was more approachable, a bit looser. A little bit more empathetic to their own issues and problems.”

Diana spoke to Morton for a book that he infamously published in 1992, however, at the time no one knew it was Diana who gave him the knowledge. It didn’t actually become known until after her death in 1997 when Morton revealed the news to the public. 

Morton also revealed to People that today’s modern monarchy is what Diana reportedly always wanted. “Ever since Queen Victoria’s reign nearly 200 years ago, women have dominated and rules the House of Windsor,” Morton said. “And in many ways the royal family today is a mirror image of what Diana always wanted. It’s more inclusive, it’s more touchy-feely. It’s more accessible.” We just wish she were here to see it…

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