10 Bombshells from Royal Biographer's Secret Diary — Including Service to Lay Diana's Ghost to Rest

A service to putPrincess Diana’sspirit to rest at Sandringham, family members’ opinions on fellow royals, what courtiers really thought of historical royal moments and the personalities behind some of the House of Windsor’s recent past are unveiled in a revealing new book.

Here are some of the biggest revelations inWho Loses, Who Wins: The Journals of Kenneth Rose, Vol II 1979-2014.

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Putting Princess Diana’s Spirit to Rest

In 2001, four years after the tragic death of Princess Diana,Queen Elizabethgathered the Queen Mother, close family friend Prue Penn and the “local parson” at her country home of Sandringham after some servants complained that a room was haunted and they did not want to work in it.

“The parson walked from room to room and did indeed feel some sort of restlessness in one of them,” Rose wrote.

The service was held in a room that was once used as a bedroom for the Queen’s father George VI before his death in 1952. But the parson suggested the room could have been haunted because of Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997.

“So the parson held a service there, not exactly of exorcism, which is the driving out of an evil spirit, but of bringing tranquillity,” Rose continued. “The congregation of three took Holy Communion and special prayers were said, I think for the repose of the King’s soul in the room in which he died.

“The parson said that the oppressive or disturbing atmosphere may have been because of Princess Diana: he had known such things before when someone died a violent death.”

Letting Down the Firm

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It’s long been known thatPrince Philiphas not been a fan of his former daughter-in-lawSarah Fergusonsince the demise of her marriage toPrince Andrew. In one diary entry — dated September 14, 1994, when she was separated but not yet divorced from Prince Andrew — Fergie showed Rose a letter from Philip, who thought she “had let down the Firm.”

In the letter, “He wrote that he had been reading a book about Edwina Mountbatten [who was notorious for having had many lovers], and that my conduct reminded him of hers.”

Making the Guest List

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At her wedding in 1981, Princess Diana was shown a list of people who her father John Spencer wanted to invite to fill some of the 50 seats allocated to him in St. Paul’s Cathedral. Diana “crossed out all the family who had not bothered to come to the weddings of her sisters! One day she will be very formidable,” according to Rose.

Seeing the Early Signs

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By the summer of her wedding year, Diana’s boredom became clear to visitors to the Scottish retreat of Balmoral.

“The Prince [Charles] goes out at nine to shoot or fish, and she does not see him again until seven,” wrote Rose. [Duke Hussey who was married to the Queen’s lady-in-waiting] “wonders if he will make a sufficiently good king: he thinks not. The prince is too immature, and the contrast with the firm style of the Queen will be most marked.”

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The Queen has a longtime love of corgis (herlast corgi, Whisper, died last year). Her passion for her pets was evident in 1995 when she wrote a rare letter following the death of one of her dogs.

“I stay for the weekend with [interior decorator] David and Pamela Hicks,” Rose wrote. “Pammy says that she sometimes writes to the Queen to tell her things of supposed interest.

Keeping Company

Prince Charles and Princess Diana.Tim Graham/Getty

The Queen’s Refusal to Heal Rift with Uncle

According to Rose, the Queen refused to make moves towards healing the royal family’s rift with her uncle after his marriage to Wallis Simpson resulted in his abdication.

Holding the Queen’s Attention

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In March 1997,Prince Charlestold Rose of a time when the head of Wimbledon pondered if the Queen would come open a new tennis court.

“I doubt it,”Prince Philipreportedly replied, “unless there are dogs and horses.”

Serving a Memorable (But Perhaps Cold) Dinner

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Rose wrote that Brigadier Geoffrey Hardy-Roberts, Master of the Royal Household from 1967 to 1973, would worry at the difficulty of keeping food hot when served on gold plate.

“People come here not to eat hot food, but to eat off gold plate,” the Queen told him.

The Queen’s Issue with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

In 1985, Rose wrote: “Jean Trumpington to dine. She relates how when she went to take her leave of the Queen as a Baroness-in-Waiting on being promoted to be Under-Secretary in the Department of Health and Social Security, the Queen said of the PM [Mrs Thatcher]: ‘She stays too long and talks too much. She has lived too long among men.’ “

source: people.com