Nonetheless, Philip wrote Diana a series of now-infamous letters about her marital situation a few weeks later, ostensibly trying to bring her back into the fold. Some interpret his letters as caring and affectionate; he signed some of them "with fondest love, Pa." He was at times stern but at others kind. At one point, he wrote of Charles, "I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind leaving you for Camilla. Such a prospect never entered our heads." What has been published from Diana's responses is cordial. "I am very grateful to you for sending such an honest and heartfelt letter. I hope that you will read mine in the same spirit," she wrote.
Any optimism contained in the letters was short-lived. The airing of Diana's 1996 Panorama interview, in which she publicly questioned Charles's fitness to be king, brought about the end of Philip and Diana's remaining cordiality. Both Philip and the queen immediately counseled Charles and Diana to, at long last, divorce.
Relations between Diana and Philip were, from then on, frosty. Journalist Ingrid Seward reported Diana's true feelings when she quoted a close friend of the princess as saying, "She hated Prince Philip."
What started as kinship between Philip and Diana, two people with unique roles supporting the queen and her heir, was over.