Princess Diana "Destroyed" Prince Charles's Belongings During Their Doomed Honeymoon

The couple had "blazing rows" throughout their trip on the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Princess Diana wearing a white floral dress standing on a ship with her back to the water while Prince Charles, wearing a gray suit, is turned the other way and holding her hand
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Prince Charles and Princess Diana headed on what should have been a romantic honeymoon aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia following their July 1981 wedding. But, as the world would later learn, the trip was anything but the loved-up vacation either of them had planned.

The couple embarked from Gibraltar on a whirlwind trip including destinations like Tunisia, Algeria, Sicily, the Greek islands, Egypt and Scotland. According to Penny Junor, author of The Duchess, Prince Charles, who—like his grandkids today—has always enjoyed art, took plenty of supplies with him on their honeymoon.

"He’d taken along his watercolours, some canvases and a pile of books by the Afrikaner mystic and writer Laurens van der Post, which he'd hoped he and Diana might share and then discuss in the evenings," Junor wrote in the book.

However, the plans didn’t exactly go over well with Princess Diana, who "was no great reader."

Prince Charles wearing a gray suit standing on the Royal Yacht Britannia next to Princess Diana, wearing a white floral print dress that ties in front and a pearl choker

The couple left from Gibraltar for their 1981 honeymoon cruise.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

"She hated his wretched books and was offended that he might prefer to bury his head in one of them rather than sit and talk to her. She resented him sitting for hours at his easel, too, and they had many blazing rows," the author wrote.

One such argument resulted in Diana throwing such a fit that she actually trashed his artwork and everything that went along with it, Junor penned.

"One day, when Charles was painting on the veranda deck of Britannia, he went off to look at something for half an hour. He came back to find she'd destroyed his painting and all his materials," the royal biographer added.

Princess Diana wearing a pink dress walking outside next to Prince Charles and a row of sailors in Egypt

The prince and princess are pictured in Egypt, the last destination on their cruise before flying to Scotland.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Prince Charles putting his arm around Princess Diana in Scotland on their honeymoon looking serious

The couple ended their honeymoon on the Balmoral estate.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

While she was likely bored and frustrated with her husband’s choice of activities, the other problem that reared its head during their honeymoon was Prince Charles’s ex-girlfriend (and now wife), Camilla Parker Bowles.

"On our honeymoon, cufflinks arrive on his wrists," Diana later said in a Channel 4 documentary (via the Daily Mail). "Two Cs entwined like the Chanel ‘C.’ Got it. One knew exactly. So I said, 'Camilla gave you those, didn’t she?'"

"He said, 'Yes, so what’s wrong? They’re a present from a friend,'" the royal continued. "And boy, did we have a row. Jealousy, total jealousy. And it was such a good idea—the two Cs—but it wasn’t that clever."

Decades later, Diana's former butler Paul Burrell went on to tell Marie Claire that giving the princess anything with the Chanel logo on it "would have been a bad mistake."

Kristin Contino
Senior Royal and Celebrity Editor

Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.