Princess Diana's Close Friend Dr. James Colthurst Remembers Her Sensitivity and Caring
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below."
James Colthurst met a young Princess Diana on a skiing trip when she was 17 years old. The two became lifelong friends, and he played a critical role in the writing of Andrew Morton's book, Diana: Her True Story, bringing Morton's questions to the princess and delivering tapes she recorded for the author. Dr. James Colthurst features in season five of The Crown, so naturally, viewers may be interested to learn more about Diana's doctor friend. Here, a bit more about him:
Dr. Colthurst was a close friend of Princess Diana's.
They initially met in Val Claret, France, when Diana hurt her ankle, and remained close for years.
"She knew several of the friends I was with [on the trip], and they brought her back to our apartment when she twisted her ankle, telling her I would look at it as I was a medical student at the time. Good fun, bright and mischievous, it was hard not to hit it off with Diana straight away, and so began the friendship she and I maintained for the rest of her short, eventful life," he wrote on what would have been her 60th birthday.
During her royal life, "perhaps one of the toughest features of being her friend was trying to encourage her to limit her task list as well as coaxing her over the many bumpy moments which she found almost overwhelming. But she was so happy to feel she had something to give that she took on a daunting number of patronages and these all took time and effort. She was interested in such a wide range of subjects that it balanced what seemed an unhappy life at Kensington Palace with daily encounters with happy, smiling faces," he shared.
He first met Andrew Morton in 1986.
Morton was covering Princess Diana's visit to the hospital he worked at (pictured above), and struck up a friendship with James. Soon, they became squash opponents and played together in North London. Eventually, Morton approached Colthurst with his idea to write a book telling Princess Diana's side of the story.
Diana soon entrusted Colthurst with bringing her taped answers to Morton. "I peddled in with a briefcase in the bicycle basket. And you know, initially, I sat and I read out the questions, but that was too slow for Diana," he said. "She snatched the questions away from me and then clipped the microphone on to herself and the tape recorder was on and away she went."
Colthurst is thanked in the acknowledgments of Morton's Diana: Her True Story.
Colthurst was adamant that Diana was speaking the truth.
"It was the most incredible outburst of really inner most pain rage frustration anger, you were swept away with it. It was very compelling," the doctor shared.
"She was enormously enthusiastic to have her story out there, she knew exactly what she was doing," he said in another interview. "I'll never forget listening to the first tape which was in a working man's café. All around everyone's eating bacon and eggs chatting away, and I put these headphones on and turn on the tape recorder and listen to Diana talking about bulimia nervosa, which I'd never heard of, talking about her suicide attempts, talking about this woman called Camilla Parker Bowles. It was like entering a parallel universe, I walked out of that café thinking, wow what on earth have I heard."
The two stayed friends through the end of Diana's life. "I remember the last conversation I had with her, not long before her death. She was laughing almost uncontrollably down the other end of the phone. Someone had gifted her a poem engraved on a silver tablet, and she was howling with mirth at their unusual taste," he shared. "What remains with me is her almost infectious laugh, coupled with her serious desire to help others. She set a high bar for her sons, who have both inherited her natural way with others. Both have her sensitivity and caring. But they are also gutsy and tough and share their mother’s passion for using their roles to do good in the world."
Years later, he participated in documentaries about the British royal family, including Diana on ITV, The Diana Interview: Revenge of a Princess and The Windsors: A Royal Dynasty. And though he did not participate in the Netflix show, Oliver Chris portrays Dr. James Colthurst in season five of The Crown.
He belongs to the Anglo-Irish aristocracy.
James Colthurst is the son of Sir Richard la Trouche Colthurst, the ninth Baronet Colthurst, and Janet Colthurst (née Wilson-Wright). He is the second of four siblings. The Colthurst Baronetcy is a title in the Baronetage of Ireland, a rank in British aristocracy. The Colthurst family's home is at Blarney Castle House in Blarney, near Cork, Ireland—the Blarney Castle is home to the famous Blarney Stone. His elder brother, Sir Charles Colthurst, inherited Blarney Castle.
He is a doctor.
Colthurst attended the prestigious Eton College, before going to med school at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School. He graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Surgery. In 1985, he was appointed Fellow to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He worked at St Thomas's Hospital after school. In 1992, he got a MBA from Brunel University.
In 1990, he married a woman named Dominique Coles, and they have two daughters, Leah (b. 1994) and Cicely (b. 1997). They live in Berkshire.
You Might Also Like
