A collection of Princess Diana’s letters she sent while on her honeymoon are set to fetch upwards of £20,000 at auction.

Nine letters written by the princess during the early years of her marriage to then Prince Charles are going under the hammer – with the oldest dating as far back as August 14, 1981, when she was just 20-years-old and returning from their honeymoon.

The royal couple returned from their two-week honeymoon cruise aboard the royal yacht Britannia on August 12, just two days before the first letter was written. In one of the letters – sent to her former housekeeper Maud Pendrey – the princess said her honeymoon was a “tremendous success” and wrote that she and Charles had a “glorious time” on their getaway.

But, according to the Daily Mail, the account contradicts what she later told her voice coach about her honeymoon, snippets of which were shared in a Channel 4 documentary, where she spoke about how she confronted Charles about cufflinks given to him by Camilla Parker-Bowles.

Diana’s honeymoon letters have been public for the last 22 years (
Image:
Julien’s Auctions/Cover Images)

Diana expressed her love for motherhood in one of the coveted letters (
Image:
Julien’s Auctions/Cover Images)

“On our honeymoon, cufflinks arrive on his wrists,” Diana said. “Two Cs entwined like the Chanel ‘C.’ Got it. One knew exactly. So I said, ‘Camilla gave you those, didn’t she?’ He said, ‘Yes, so what’s wrong? They’re a present from a friend.’ And boy, did we have a row. Jealousy, total jealousy. And it was such a good idea—the two Cs—but it wasn’t that clever.”

However, these points were not addressed in Diana’s wholly-positive August 1981 letter to Pendrey, which read: “I do hope you weren’t too tired after all the wedding activities, and that you were able to see a lot from where your seats were.” Diana continued: “The honeymoon was a tremendous success, and we had a glorious time catching up on our lost energy and sleep. I just wanted you both to know how deeply touched I am by your thoughtfulness and, again, a million thanks. Endless love and affection—Diana.”

Charles and Diana in happier times (
Image:
Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
Other letters written to Pendrey include the princess noting how happy she was during motherhood after the birth of her first baby, Prince William, on June 21, 1982 – and even said she wanted “masses more” children. “Enclosed is a picture of an extremely proud and lucky mother, and I just wondered if you’d like it!”

And in that same letter, Diana added “William has brought us so much happiness and contentment, and consequently, I can’t wait for masses more. We are up in Scotland until the end of October, which is particularly spoiling, but greatly appreciated.”

Two years later, while pregnant with Prince Harry in 1984, Diana is said to have been at her closest with Charles. “It was so kind of you both to have remembered us on our wedding anniversary,” Diana wrote from Highgrove on July 29, her and Charles’ third anniversary. “

“We were enormously touched by your card, and I just wanted to write and say a big thank you. Unlike some married couples, we both remembered the occasion, and luckily thought that the three years had flown past! What with the baby arriving soon, our lives seem to be very busy, but we’d have it no other way!”

The final two letters in the lot were written after Diana began her affair with James Hewitt, a cavalry officer in the British Army, who became her riding instructor, in 1986. In the first she writes: “I wanted to write and say how very sad I was to hear about Mr Pendrey,” she wrote on December 24, after the death of Ainslie. “I can only imagine that when something like this happens how empty you must feel.”

And the second, written two years later in 1988, also showed her compassion and good manners, with Diana penning: “It was so sweet of you to have sent us a lovely card for our anniversary, we were thrilled to bits to get it and very touched by your thoughtfulness.”

It is now 22 years since the letters first emerged in public, when they were originally sold for £22,000 by Keys auction house, in Aylsham, Norfolk, to hotelier Michael Rockall, who displayed them at the Whittlebury Hall, in Towcester, Northamptonshire.

Personal correspondence from Princess Diana that will be auctioned (
Image:
Julien’s Auctions / SWNS)

Diana often wrote to her former family housekeeper, Maud Pendrey (
Image:
Julien’s Auctions / SWNS)
At the time, Mr Rockall said of the letters: “I think this collection is amazingly exciting and I am overjoyed to have bought it,’ he said at the time. The price was pretty near the level we wanted to go to, and I thought it might go abroad. I feel very strongly that something like this should stay in England. I view it as being a particularly personal collection that the Princess wrote to someone who she would have known personally for a long time.”

The collection – which also includes 14 Christmas cards, a Royal wedding invitation and a signed photograph, as well as the letters – became the property of new owners Jeff and Carol Sargeant after Mr Rockall’s hotel was merged with the local golf course.

Now, the coveted items are being sold by California based Julien’s Auctions with a reserve estimate of £23,000. The auction house said of the lot on it’s website: “The collection of letters, encompassing thank-you notes, holiday greetings, and other correspondence, provides a rare look at Diana’s life beyond the carefully crafted public image.

“In her own elegant script, Diana’s warmth and genuine connection with others shine through. These letters reveal a woman who, despite her royal status, remained grounded and appreciative of the people in her life, from her staff to her close confidants.”