Princess Diana ‘hated’ Christmas with royals at Sandringham — and one tradition left her ‘mortified’: expert

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“My Mother and I,” which explores King Charles’ relationship with his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.“A friend of mine worked there at the time,” Seward told Fox News Digital about the country estate where the royals celebrate the holidays.“Diana hated Sandringham,” said Seward. “Even when her romance with Charles was going well, she still didn’t like it… I think she found it claustrophobic because Diana was such a free spirit.

She didn’t want to have to enjoy herself with so many rules. [But] they’re not rules. They’re just traditions of royalty.”“There’s an order of precedence – who goes through the door first – and all kinds of things,” Seward explained. “It’s very archaic, and I think it made Diana feel uncomfortable.”Vanity Fair recently revisited Andrew Morton’s 1992 bestseller, “Diana: Her True Story.” The late Princess of Wales secretly collaborated with the British journalist to share her struggles with royal life.Like Seward, Morton said Diana “hated” Christmas at Sandringham.

He claimed her disdain for the tradition began at her first Christmas at the estate with the royals in 1981, five months after she married then-Prince Charles.

By then, she was already pregnant with their first child, Prince William.According to Morton, Diana took the time “to buy her new family members thoughtful and expensive gifts” while she was suffering from morning sickness.