Prince Charles’ other mistress you didn’t know about
The whole world knows about Camilla Parker-Bowles, former mistress and now wife of Prince Charles.
Scores of pages have been written about Camilla’s role in the breakdown of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage.
But did you know that Charles had another mistress? And just like Diana, 2017 marked the 20th anniversary of her death.
We’re talking about socialite Dale Harper, but to Charles – and eventually the world – she was known as Kanga.
She was once a household name and a central figure in Charles’ life. He even once described her as "the only woman who ever understood [him]".
Dale was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1947 and moved to London in 1972. Within two weeks she met Anthony Tryon, 3rd Baron Tryon, and married him in 1973, becoming the Baroness Tryon.
According to a 2008 documentary Prince Charles' Other Mistress, the prince was instantly captivated by Kanga and once she entered his inner circle is was the "first time Camilla has a serious rival."
Throughout the 1970s Camilla and Kanga vied for Prince Charles’ heart, despite the fact both of them were married to other men. Both women named Charles the godfather to their children.
As Charles dithered about finding a suitable wife, he was having his cake and eating it too.
However, in 1981 when Charles announced his engagement to Lady Diana Spencer, Kanga was ousted out of Charles’ inner circle due to her lack of discretion.
It was in this area that Camilla triumphed over her rival, intimately acquainted with the discreetness needed in the affairs of English aristocracy.
Capitalising on her notoriety and aristocratic connections, Kanga opened a fashion business and even persuaded Diana to wear some of her dresses in 1985 – both women sending a clear message to Camilla.
But tragedy was soon to befall Kanga. Suffering from ill health and reportedly, mental health issues, she fell from a window and spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair. Her husband, Anthony, also filed for divorce in 1997.
Two months later, Diana, just 36, passed away in after a tragic car accident in Paris.
And just three months later, Kanga died in London at age 49 after contracting septicaemia.
It was a lonely death for the former socialite – not Charles’ queen, no longer married, homeless, and largely forgotten.