There’s no doubt that Princess Diana led a big, eventful life before her tragic death at the age of 36 — even based on what we know for sure about the late royal. But when it comes to rumors about what she may have been doing behind closed doors, we now know at least one of them isn’t true. In his new memoir, the former king of Spain addressed rumors that he had an affair with Diana going all the way back to the ’80s.
The rumors first began after the British royals vacationed with the Spanish royals.
Before Diana’s divorce from King Charles (then known as Prince Charles, of course), the couple and kids Harry and William vacationed at the Spanish royal family’s summer home in Palma de Mallorca three years in a row, from 1986 to 1988.
Despite the fact that Diana was obviously traveling with her family, rumors quickly spread, especially since the then-king Juan Carlos had a reputation for being a bit of a womanizer.
They were photographed together over the years.
Knowing that Diana’s marriage to Charles was doomed at the time that she and Juan Carlos seemed to have been spending a lot of time together, it’s even easier to see how quickly those kinds of rumors spread — even though People pointed out that other royals, including Greece’s King Constantine, were on these vacations, too.
Now, Juan Carlos doesn’t seem to have positive memories of Diana.
In an excerpt from Juan Carlos’ new memoir, Reconciliation, that was shared by The Telegraph this week, he denied that things ever turned romantic with Diana.
But not only did he shut down the rumors of a possible affair, he also had a less-than-favorable description of the late princess to share, calling her “cold, taciturn, distant, except in the presence of the paparazzi.”
The feeling may have been mutual.
As People also reported, while speaking to biographer Andrew Morton, Diana described Juan Carlos as “a little too attentive.” While talking to friends of Juan Carlos after one trip to the Spanish royals’ summer home, she even said he was “a very libidinous man.”
“I felt uncomfortable being left alone with him in a room, although I can assure you that nothing happened,” Diana said.
