Princess Diana Had Secret Disease Following Tumultuous Marriage to Prince Charles Due to Close Relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles

AIRING today (Sunday, August 21) on Channel 4 is the first of four parts about the automobile disaster that killed Diana, Princess of Wales, Dodi Al-Fayed, and driver Henri Paul over 25 years ago.

Since Princess Diana's tragic death, much has been uncovered about her battle with bulimia, which was also shown in various episodes of Netflix's famous drama The Crown.

Princess Diana Had Disease After Engagement to Princess Charles

Information about Princess Diana's eating condition initially surfaced in 1992, following the release of Andre Morton's biography of the princess, 'Diana: Her True Story.'

According to reports at the time, the princess stated that her condition began a week after her engagement to Prince Charles and was triggered in part by his continuous close friendship with Camilla. She identified bulimia as a "symptom of what was going on in my marriage" in a controversial BBC interview in 1995.

Bulimia (or bulimia nervosa) is classified as a severe mental disorder by the prominent charity Beat. Anyone of any age, gender, race, or background can be affected. Bulimics are trapped in a cycle of bingeing (eating enormous amounts of food) and then attempting to compensate for that overeating by vomiting, using laxatives, or diuretics, fasting, or exercising excessively (called purging).

Although it may appear typical for some people who do not have an eating problem to eat a little extra on occasion, this should not be mistaken for a binge eating episode.

According to Beat, binge eating is frequently used to cope with negative emotions; someone may feel compelled to binge eat if they are anxious, unhappy, or furious. Bulimics, for example, do not feel in control of how much or how rapidly they eat during a binge. Some folks may express a sense of being detached from what they're doing, Express reported.

Princess Diana's Words to Firefighter After Tragic Car Crash

Meanwhile, Princess Diana's terrible demise over 25 years ago sent shockwaves throughout the world. The princess was just 36 years old when she died in an automobile collision in Paris on August 31, 1997, along with her partner Dodi Fayed and the vehicle's driver.

The car had driven into the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in the French capital, and emergency services rushed to the site. One of them was fireman Xavier Gourmelon, who had no idea who Princess Diana was when he first encountered her.

He didn't think the blonde woman in the rear of the car was gravely hurt because she was conscious and had her eyes open. He grabbed her hand and reassured her before removing her from the automobile, encouraging her to remain calm.

Princess Diana then questioned him, "My God, what's happened?" She had a heart arrest shortly afterward. "I massaged her heart and a few seconds later she started breathing again, which was a relief of course because, as a first responder, you want to save lives - and that's what I believed I had done," Gourmelon previously told The Sun.

Princess Diana was proclaimed dead at Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris at 4 am local time, 3 am in the UK, despite physicians' best attempts. Tonight, Channel 4 will air the first episode of a four-part documentary series called 'Investigating Diana: Death In Paris,' which will detail the two investigations into the incident. The first was conducted in 1997 by the French Brigade Criminelle, and the second in 2004 by the Metropolitan Police, as per Mirror.