Shand Kydd diaries call Royals 'brats and bitches'

• Mother of Diana Princess of Wales showers Royal family in abuse in diaries

• Diaries based on conversations between Mrs Shand Kydd and journalist

• Frances Shand Kydd reveals she did not believe Diana was murdered

Key quote

"He acts like a spoiled brat! He's depressed? Good" - Frances Shand Kydd on Prince Charles according to 'diaries'

Story in full THE late mother of Diana, Princess of Wales, has castigated the Royal Family from beyond the grave, dismissing the members as brats, bitches and diminutive Germans.

In her "diaries", Frances Shand Kydd, who died last year aged 68 at her cottage near Oban, Argyll, described Prince Charles as a "spoiled brat" who deserved to be "depressed".

Mrs Shand Kydd said the Queen Mother was "quite a bitch" who did not get on with her daughter, according to a journalist who revealed the diaries. Mike Merritt, writing in Scotland On Sunday, said Mrs Shand Kydd revealed a simmering resentment of her former in-laws. "The [Royal] Family are a disgrace, really just a bunch of small Germans," she is alleged to have said.

The secret diaries, revealing Mrs Shand Kydd's thoughts about her time as a member of the Royal Family were revealed for the first time yesterday.

They are based on conversations with the journalist over the last seven years of her life and reveal deep bitterness towards the Royal Family. They also reveal how close Mrs Shand Kydd came to boycotting the funeral of her daughter at Westminster Abbey.

Mrs Shand Kydd became angry, according to Mr Merritt, because the close family had to change their plans to accommodate the Royal Family.

Mrs Shand Kydd said deans at the abbey insisted that they wait 36 minutes for the Royal Family to arrive. She recounted: "[Lady] Sarah [McCorquodale, her daughter] told the deans we would not arrive at 10:24am and wait for 36 minutes because we had to arrive well before the Royal Family. Otherwise we would not be coming."

Mrs Shand Kydd told Mr Merritt: "Sarah has not got red hair for nothing."

Following the funeral, the devout Roman Catholic stayed out of the public glare, instead choosing to spend her time at her home on the Isle of Seil.

She apparently told the reporter that after her daughter's death she received 31,000 letters and replied by hand to 7,000 of them.

Mrs Shand Kydd said: "The worst letters have been from priests and nuns. They have a really wobbly faith, blaming God for Diana's death."

The late woman's grandsons, the Princes William and Harry fared better from her reminiscences.

She described Harry as a "rascal" and said William would have to learn to adapt to dealing with the media."

Their father, however, allegedly provoked her ire. "He acts like a spoiled brat! He's depressed? Good!" she said.

Mrs Shand Kydd did concede that the Prince suffered over the death of his beloved grandmother.

She told the journalist: "He was distraught at Mountbatten's death and his grandmother's. It shows who really brought him up."

In a different conversation, a year after her daughter's death, Mrs Shand Kydd reported that she had not heard from "the boys" - William and Harry.

She said: "He [Prince Charles] thinks he can be both mother and father."

Significantly, the diaries reveal that Mrs Shand Kydd did not subscribe to the conspiracy theory that Diana had been murdered. She said it was "crap".

And she dismissed the contention that Diana did not get on with the Queen.

Mrs Shand Kydd apparently said: "It's b***s to say the Queen and Diana did not get on. They had a lot of mutual respect and admiration."