Prince Charles is to take out a $31 million bank loan to finance a divorce settlement with Princess Diana, Britain's Sunday Times reported.
The newspaper, citing royal sources, said the heir to the throne did not want to depend on the generosity of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Instead, he will borrow the money from the bankers of his own Duchy of Cornwall.That could cost him up to $2.17 million a year in interest payments alone.
His lawyers are said to be frustrated by the delay in finalizing the divorce settlement. Queen Elizabeth wrote to the embittered couple in December, calling for a speedy end to the 14-year marriage that turned from fairytale to nightmare.
She is believed to be increasingly irritated and anxious to resolve the issue so that the engagement can be announced in August of her youngest son, Prince Edward, and Sophie Rhys-Jones.
This could coincide with the 96th birthday on Aug. 4 of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, the one perennially popular royal who has survived the House of Windsor's soap opera-style travails.
The paper said that if Diana's legal advisers turn down the latest offer, then Charles will wait until the end of next year and divorce Diana under existing separation rules.