The 25th anniversary of Princess Diana's death will fall on August 31, 2022. Both her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, are expected to note the anniversary either publicly or privately, but there are rumors that two major royal figures hope to ignore the day completely.
The Daily Beast reports that both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles hope to let the anniversary pass them by entirely.
The publication notes that at writing, there are no formal plans to mark the somber anniversary, despite Princess Diana's continued importance and popularity around the world. Some believe this could be due to the family's concern that Diana continues to be a threat in some way to the monarchy itself.
A friend told The Daily Beast, "Charles can’t win. Not saying anything makes him look unfeeling, but if he did say anything he would be accused of being a hypocrite. He’ll do what he always does and lie low."
The office of Prince Charles also declined the chance to give The Daily Beast a comment or explanation as to how the royal would be spending the day. The outlet notes that Prince Charles has never made a note of the anniversary of his ex-wife's death before.
The Queen also appears to be planning to ignore the day, though the outlet points out that it wouldn't be controversial for her to say something in honor of Diana if she chose to.
Jon Conway, the man behind the play Truth, Lies, Diana, told The Daily Beast what he thinks is going on behind the scenes. He said, "The reason there will be nothing said or done to mark the anniversary of her death is the same reason that there is almost nothing in London to mark her life. As a character says in my play, they want her ‘airbrushed out of history.’"
He continued, "It’s quite surreal when you consider she is one of the three most significant royal figures of the last 200 years: you have Queen Victoria, you have Elizabeth II and you have Diana. The establishment simply do not want any more focus on Diana."
Conway also added, "This is a woman who did untold good in her life, and whatever difficulties she caused for the family it is unthinkable to not commemorate her. I am a supporter of Charles and Camilla, theirs is a remarkable love story, but their behavior around Diana inflicted a lot of pain on Diana and the country. At some point they will need to acknowledge that and do penance for the way he treated her."
