PRINCE Philip reportedly told Princess Diana "I can't imagine anyone leaving you for Camilla" in letters he wrote to try to save her marriage to Charles.

Philip, who died on Friday aged 99, made a special effort to welcome Diana after she married Prince Charles in 1981.

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And when Diana's marriage to Charles began to fail he started writing to his daughter-in-law and became a self-confessed "marriage counsellor".

Former royal butler Paul Burrell claimed he "did more trying to save Charles' marriage to Diana than his son".

In one letter, the Duke of Edinburgh expressed his shock at Charles' relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles.

He wrote: "We do not approve of either of you having lovers. Charles was silly to risk everything with Camilla for a man in his position.

"We never dreamed he might feel like leaving you for her.

"I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind leaving you for Camilla. Such a prospect never even entered our heads."

The notes exchanged between the two royals lasted from June, 1992 until Diana and Charles's split in December, 1992.

Philip had reportedly picked up on Diana's concerns about Camilla within a year of her marriage to Charles.

And in one letter, he said: "I am quite ready to concede, I have no talent as a marriage counsellor.”

Diana is said to have told pals: "How many other wives would discuss their marital problems with their father-in-law instead of their husband?", the Daily Mail reports.

One of her letters to him began: ‘‘I was particularly touched by your most recent letter which proved to me, if I didn’t already know it, that you really do care.”

Two of Diana's friends, Rosa Monckton, then managing director of Tiffany’s in London, and Lucia Flecha de Lima, wife of the Brazilian ambassador, told the Gyles Brandreth they would read through the letters with Diana.

"When the letters came," explained Rosa, "they caused excitement and alarm at the same time. Diana was very up and down.

"Something he said might make her cry, something might make her laugh. She very often got the wrong end of the stick, misinterpreting what he meant."

Lucia recalled: "We went through each letter so carefully, thinking about what he said, talking about it, explaining it to her.

"We’d get into the car and all go to the [Brazilian] embassy and sit together and read the letters, line by line."

LETTER EXCHANGE

During the exchanges, Philip raised concerns about her bulimia and said it could have been responsible for some of her behavioural patterns.

But he was furious about claims in Andrew Morton's 1992 book that the Royal Family didn't care about her unhappiness.

That summer, Philip wrote to Diana: "Can you honestly look into your heart and say that Charles’s relationship with Camilla had nothing to do with your behaviour towards him in your marriage?"

In another letter, he told her that being married to a future King "involved much more than simply being a hero with the British people".

As his views towards Diana turned, he felt she was upstaging the Queen during public appearances.

Philip is also said to have gone "ballistic" at Diana's BBC Panorama interview in 1995 where the Princess said "there were three of us in this marriage".

The Duke of Edinburgh's funeral will take place in Windsor on Saturday afternoon, with the Queen ordering royals not to wear military uniform for the occasion.

The Duke of Sussex had faced the humiliating prospect of being the only senior male in the royal family wearing civvies after losing his honorary ranks.

There was also said to be “serious Navy displeasure” at being dragged into a row over Prince Andrew possibly wearing an admiral’s uniform.

Insiders involved in planning for Saturday’s funeral claim the Queen personally stepped in to suggest all senior male royals wear suits and ties.

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