After being hidden away in a closet for more than two decades, a collection of letters written by Princess Diana hit the auction block last week and sold for £82,000, about $113,000.
Dated between 1990 and 1997, the letters were written to family friend Roger Bramble. The Bramble family hopes that the letters show a different side of the people’s princess, especially now that Netflix’s The Crown has dramatized the issues that she had with her ex-husband, Prince Charles, and other members of the royal family.
In a statement, the family said:
“We have been concerned that contemporary portrayals of Diana may become accepted wisdom in the minds of the public. We believe these letters reveal the writer to be an affectionate, cultivated, and delightful human being and that their wider publication could only do credit to their author.
According to Marie Claire, the letters touch on several issues, such as Diana’s “divorce from Prince Charles, her mental health struggles, and the media scrutiny.”
However, as the Bramble family mentioned, the letters also show a more laid-back and funny side of Diana’s personality.
In one letter, which was dated October 19, 1995, Diana refers to Queen Elizabeth II as “the Boss.” That specific letter sold for £8,700 (about $12,000).
“I just hope your arrival at Westminster Abbey was before the Boss (The Queen) and if not, I expect to have been mentioned in the excuses,” Diana wrote in the letter.
Another letter thanked Bramble for a “much welcome distraction” as she handled her divorce from Charles and an additional letter describes a “ghastly week” that came after the publication of Andrew Morton’s biography, Diana: Her True Story, in Her Own Words.
The money raised from the auction is going to be split between four charities that Diana worked with: the English National Ballet, Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra, Opera Rara, and the Benesh International Endowment Fund.