Two tabloids, quoting unidentified sources, said Saturday that Princess Diana is pushing for a formal separation from Prince Charles by the end of the year. Buckingham Palace was silent on the matter.
The tabloids The Sun and the Daily Mail said an end to the 11-year royal marriage could spark a constitutional crisis.A biography of the princess published earlier this month alleged the marriage was in deep trouble, largely due to 43-year-old Charles's indifference to his wife.
Britain's tabloids have engaged in an increasingly bitter circulation war as they try to outdo one another in covering the alleged rift.
The Sun said Buckingham Palace sources told it the couple "have decided their marriage is `irretrievably damaged' " but that Charles and Diana were "deeply split over the way they should divide their lives."
Diana "wants a clean break, with the couple living in separate homes," but Charles, heir to Queen Elizabeth II, "believes they can carry on as they are," the tabloid said.
An unidentified government minister reportedly told the newspaper: "We are not just heading for a constitutional crisis - we are in one now."
The Daily Mail reported that "ministers and members of parliament in close touch with the royal circle are deeply depressed about the situation. (Prime Minister John) Major is being kept briefed . . . "
Major's advisers, it said, "have already compiled a list of the serious questions that would arise if the princess were to press for a formal separation."
"Diana, Her True Story," by former tabloid reporter Andrew Morton, alleged the 30-year-old princess had tried to commit suicide five times in despair over marriage difficulties and her husband's continued friendship with former girlfriend Camilla Parker Bowles, 43.