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Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
Kirsten McStay & Nia Dalton

King Charles' 'forgotten mistress' who died 'broken-hearted after he chose Camilla'

King Charles' affair with his now-wife, Camilla Parker Bowles had been highly documented for decades and was again highlighted during her transition from mistress to Queen But what isn't really common knowledge was his supposed second mistress, Lady Dale 'Kanga' Tryon, who died just months after his first wife, Princess Diana, in mysterious circumstances.

Lady Dale, who was once described as "the only woman who ever understood Charles", was a socialite in British royal court circles and a successful businesswoman in the fashion world, writes The Mirror.

She was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1948 to a wealthy middle-class family. Dale then moved to London in 1972, where she met her future husband, Anthony Tryon, 3rd Baron Tryon. Dale became pals with Charles through Anthony, who were close friends during the 1970s and 1980s.

A 2008 documentary, Prince Charles' Other Mistress, says that Charles was already seeing Camilla, who was married to Andrew Parker-Bowles, when Dale caught his eye. Charles was said to be smitten with Dale as he was with Camilla.

And when the Baroness gave birth to a child with her husband, she named her son after Charles and even made him godfather. Single Charles allegedly jumped between Camilla and Dale, who are said to have been sworn enemies. The supposed love triangle only came to an end when Charles married Diana.

She was said to then learn about the power that came with being a mistress of the future monarch, and used it to her advantage to drum up publicity for her 'Kanga' fashion line.

It's said that Dale and Diana became friends - with the People's Princess even wearing one of Kanga's designs in 1985. But while Dale reportedly remained in love with Charles, it was Camilla he chose to restart his affair with.

He nicknamed her 'Kanga', which inspired the name for her fashion line (mirrorpix)

Sadly, Dale's health then deteriorated with the re-occurrence of her childhood illness, Perthes' disease, and a diagnosis of uterine cancer in 1993. In 1996, Dale checked herself into a rehabilitation clinic after becoming addicted to painkillers given as part of her cancer treatment.

And during her time there, she plunged nearly eight metres from a window, shattering her spine and becoming paralysed from the waist down. Dale claims that she was pushed - with friends stating that she believed someone was trying to kill her - while others thought she had jumped.

Shortly after, her husband had her sectioned under the Mental Health Act and filed for a divorce. A year later, Dale contracted septicaemia after a holiday abroad and died shortly before her 50th birthday, just months after Diana was killed in a Paris car crash.

And ten years on, the story of her supposed love affair with Charles resurfaced in the documentary, however the Tryon family consistently denied the claims.

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