• Prince Charles and Princess Diana finalized their divorce on August 28, 1996—29 years ago today.
  • In the divorce agreement, Charles and Diana were given joint custody of their sons Prince William and Prince Harry, and Diana was allowed to keep her apartment at Kensington Palace and received a lump sum and a yearly allowance.
  • That said, she lost her Her Royal Highness (HRH) title in the divorce, which prompted William to make his mother a thoughtful promise he never got to fulfill.

After nearly four years separated, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, at last, finalized their often-contentious divorce on August 28, 1996—29 years ago today.

In the divorce settlement, Diana received a lump sum payment of 17 million pounds, with an additional 350,000 pounds annually to run her private office, according to The Mirror. The Princess of Wales also was able to keep her apartment at Kensington Palace, and Charles and Diana were given joint custody of their sons Prince William and Prince Harry. But, in addition to losing her marriage of 15 years, Diana also lost her Her Royal Highness title when the divorce was finalized, which left “her distraught,” The Mirror reported.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana just before their separation was announced in 1992.

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“Losing the HRH meant it was no longer necessary for friends or staff to bow or curtsy in Diana’s presence,” the outlet reported. “It also meant she would now have to curtsy to her husband, her two sons, and a whole host of minor royals.”

Seeing his mother’s distress over losing her HRH title—and all that came with it, far beyond bows and curtseys—a 14-year-old William made a promise to his mother: “Don’t worry, Mummy, I will give it [her HRH title] back to you one day when I am king,” he said.

Prince William and Princess Diana.

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According to Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell, this exchange left Diana in tears. William, of course, never got the chance to fulfill that promise—his mother died just 368 days after her divorce was finalized, in a Paris car accident on August 31, 1997. She was just 36 years old.

Though the divorce was finalized exactly six months later, Diana had agreed to the divorce on February 28, 1996, which she called the “saddest day of my life.” While she would lose her HRH status, she would still be known as Diana, Princess of Wales, per the agreement, a decision that ultimately came down to Queen Elizabeth.

Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth.

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The Queen “had to decide on the future title, but she always made it clear to Diana, which was comforting, that she would have all the access she wanted to the boys,” Diana’s biographer Andrew Morton told E! News. “The one thing [Diana] feared above all else was that the boys would be taken away from her, and she knew that the royal family had the constitutional and the legal right to do that if they wanted. But the Queen made it perfectly clear that wouldn’t happen.”

The Queen and Diana—despite rumors to the contrary—had a “mutual respect” for one another, Morton said, though when it came to public image, “the Queen was the stiff upper lip and Diana was the trembling lower lip.” Diana’s title being stripped reflected the Queen’s belief that “there had to be a distance between them.”

Princess Diana on June 17, 1997.

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“I would never do anything to hurt the monarchy,” Diana told royal biographer Ingrid Seward after her divorce was finalized. “I have no wish to upset what is essentially William’s inheritance, whether he likes it or not.”

Kate Middleton.
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As his parents’ marriage broke down, Diana gave William poignant advice that he has heeded in his marriage to Kate Middleton: “I went to the school and put it to William, particularly, that if you find someone you love in life, you must hang onto it and look after it, and if you were lucky enough to find someone who loved you, then one must protect it,” Diana said. Nearly 25 years into his relationship with Kate, it’s advice William has clearly taken to heart—and the current Princess of Wales wears Diana’s sapphire and diamond engagement ring to this day in a subtle yet profound homage to the mother-in-law she never knew.