29th of June 1994 - Kensington Palace
If news about the separation of the Prince and Princess of Wales hadn't been bad enough, the British tabloids had begun reporting that a controversial conversation between Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles had been intercepted and shared with various newspapers across the country.
The papers claimed 'a tape recording of an intimate phone call between the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles has been played to them, but at the time they had opted to keep the full contents of the call private, choosing to instead only allude as to what was said.
This likely stemmed from the fact that, at the time, the recording's authenticity was very much in question but that hadn't lasted long with both national and international newspapers had published the full transcript of the call in all its graphic detail.
In addition to the posh male and female voices saying they loved each other, the man also expressed a wish to "live inside your trousers or something," before joking about turning into a tampon.
The entire situation had been deeply embarrassing and the senior royals had created an informal group of advisors to find ways to improve the monarchy's image since the damage hits just seemed to keep on coming but nothing had been done except for minor measures.
In an attempt to mend his own image, Charles had put together his own team which had lead him to film the documentary, Charles: The Private Man, the Public Role to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Charles's investiture as Prince of Wales.
The documentary showed Charles on his official visits to Mexico, the Middle East, Australia, and various countries in Europe.
Charles was interviewed about his children, Prince William, Prince Harry and Princess Adeline, and the failure of his marriage to their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
The Prince of Wales had opened up about his marriage, his faithfulness to his wife and the failure of his marriage that "the last possible thing that I ever wanted. I mean, I'm not a total idiot ... It's not something that I went into, marriage, you know, with the intention of this happening, or in any way in a cynical frame of mind ... I have always tried to get it right and tried to do the right thing by everybody".
In the programme, Charles notably admitted to having committed adultery after it had become clear to him that his marriage had broken down; he didn't mention Diana's own part in the breakdown of their marriage only speaking about his own actions.
That was how Diana found herself dressing for the evening, having originally declined the dinner invitation; however, two days prior to the dinner, following several days' publicity of Charles' infidelity revelations, she accepted the invitation.
A smile on her face as she prepared for the evening ahead, knowing that everyone would be talking about her when she climbed out of that car; she stared right ahead at her own reflection.
In the two years since she and Charles had separated, she had very little to do with her estranged husband unless it was to do with their three children.
William, Harry and Adeline had been largely unaffected by the separation of their parents although it was noticeably odd for the three of them since Charles had allowed Diana to keep their Kensington Apartment while he moved into York House.
Spritzing herself with perfume, Diana couldn't help but think of the headlines that had been written about Charles since his interview had aired; everyone talking about how he had to have lost his mind to take up with Camilla Parker Bowles.
Not when he had a wife as beautiful as she at home, how could he possibly want a woman that was married with two children rather than the mother of his three children; that many looked up to for her charity work.
Setting about getting dressed, Diana made sure to pull on her black tights perfectly as she slowly dressed; the an off-the-shoulder black silk evening gown, was designed by Christina Stambolian hanging behind her waiting.
She'd owned the dress for three years and hadn't worn it because she feared that it would be too daring; however tonight she truly wished to make a statement.
***
Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Palace
Taking a final deep breath, Diana exited her car and was greeted by Lord Palumbo, the chair of the trustees of the Serpentine Gallery, before entering the gallery.
The cameras snapped widely as she bounced out of the car in that wonderfully athletic way that she had, a warm smile on her face as she shook the hand of Lord Palumbo.
The choice of black dress could be compared to the black swan Odile in Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake, Diana choosing not to play the scene like Odette, innocent in white instead she was Odile, she was angry.
There was no sign of anything across her features as she made her way inside, the hard part over and she trusted the media to do their jobs; no doubt the morning papers would be covered in her moment of vengeance.
Charles would regret his decision to admit that he had cheated on her, she would not allow him to taint her in his downfall and she intended to come out on top.
The dress would definitely rival the Travolta dress in fame, the dress that everyone still talked about nearly nine years later despite the fact that she had worn it since.
Diana felt a lump form in her throat as she thought about what Charles had said when she had excitedly shown him the dress; he had told her that she had looked wonderful and had even suggested what jewels would look best with it.
It felt like a lifetime ago since they'd been like that 1985, happy despite all the hiccups that early years of the marriage had brought to them; they'd had their two boys and everything seemed to have fallen apart from there.
"Your Royal Highness, may I present the Earl of Munster," Lord Palumbo stated introducing her to one of their best benefactors, he signalled for the man to approach along with his date.
Diana had been rather relieved to hear a familiar introduction but the smile slipped from her face as she realised that something was not right.
"Your Grace, I see the Countess is not with you this evening," Diana greeted allowing the Earl of Munster to shake her hand, her eyes drifting off to the woman by his side that was most certainly not his wife.
It seemed that Charles was not the only husband that could not remain faithful to his wife, Diana felt her stomach turn knowing that Harry was very close friends with the man's eldest son.
"At home with the baby," the Earl of Munster dismissed, his wife having birthed their fourth child only a couple of months earlier but still she had not been asked if she'd like to attend.
He had two sons now and two daughters, not that he spent a lot of time at the family estate these days preferring his city home over being at home with Anne; at least at FitzClarence House he could spend time with his mistress.
"I am sure the children are thrilled with their new brother. Rupert wasn't it?" Diana asked trying to recall the boy's name, she had to admit that she was rather fond of how the Countess had named her children.
Simon, Lucille and Susan were fine names and perhaps if she had been so lucky, Diana wondered if she'd have gotten the chance to name her own children something a little less royal.
It had been hard enough to deter Charles from his intended names of Albert, Arthur and Victoria when it came to their own three; Diana had insisted upon the fact and she was thrilled that she had gotten her own way on the matter.
The Earl nodded his head in disinterest, he had not come here to speak of his own children; in fact, he had come here to get away from them and spend time with his mistress.
Clearing her throat, the woman in question nudged the Earl wanting to be introduced to the Princess of Wales; it wasn't like she got to meet many people in Edward's life since he was intent to keep her away from his wife.
"Your Royal Highness, may I introduce my date for this evening, the lovely Ms Georgina Huston," the Earl stated allowing his mistress to curtsy to Diana, the woman had a large smile on her face and Diana almost feared that she would expose herself as she dipped down to greet her.
The dress that Georgina was wearing left very little to the imagination, it looked a size too small for Georgina as she straightened back up and shook Diana's hand.
Her stomach turned and Diana stared at Edward wondering if Anne had any idea about what he was doing especially while she was recovering from having his baby.