A "very upset and decidedly sad" Princess Diana canceled her public engagements Thursday, seeking a few days of solitude after agreeing to Prince Charles' wish for a divorce.
Diana bowed out of a fund-raising event for the British Red Cross, but it was business as usual for Charles, who visited the scene of an oil tanker spill in Wales."The princess would prefer a few days of quiet before she picks up her public engagements again - any woman would," said her spokeswoman, Jane Atkinson.
With a divorce agreed on, now come the hard questions: What will happen to the British monarchy and the beautiful princess who vowed she won't "go quietly" - and how much will she get in the divorce settlement?
It took Diana more than two months to give Charles the answer he wanted to hear: She will end their marriage. But her surprise announcement Wednesday night caught Buckingham Palace off guard and led to a new round of public feuding.
Announcing her decision, Diana said it was agreed that she would remain a princess, keep her home in Kensington Palace and remain fully involved in raising the couple's two sons, Prince William, 13, and Prince Harry, 11.
Buckingham Palace said that was premature.
"All the details on these matters, including titles, remain to be discussed and settled. This will take time," said a palace spokesman, insisting on anonymity.
Nonetheless, the palace said Queen Elizabeth II was "most interested" to hear that Diana had agreed to divorce the prince, whom she married in a spectacular ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral on July 29, 1981.
Atkinson said it was Diana's understanding that the prince had agreed to his wife's terms in a meeting with her on Wednesday.
"The princess had a meeting with her husband and came out of that meeting feeling that this had been agreed. Otherwise, she would not have made the statement."
She described her boss as feeling "very upset and decidedly sad."
Press Association, the British news agency, said courtiers at the palace, whom Diana has called "the enemy," believe she issued the statement to ensure that the prince meets her bottom-line demands.
It's now apparently up to the lawyers to thrash out the details.
The Times of London speculated Thursday that Charles, 47, will make a one-time payment of about 15 million pounds, or $23 million. But there have been other suggestions that his 34-year-old wifewould get an annual allowance instead.
In addition to the money and the title, another issue will undoubtedly be a future role for Diana, who wants to be a goodwill ambassador for Britain.
"I'll fight to the end," she said in November, "because I believe that I have a role to fulfill."
Diana's lawyer, Anthony Julius, said her statement was "entirely appropriate."
"It was an exceptionally difficult decision and one which the Princess of Wales has taken with immense sadness and regret," he told BBC News.
Charles sought the divorce after the princess went on television in November - without consulting the palace - and discussed the breakdown of her marriage, her husband's adultery and her own.
Diana said her marriage had been "crowded" because of Charles' affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, and admitted to having an affair with former army officer James Hewitt.
She also questioned Charles' suitability to be king.
Shortly after this public airing of Charles and Diana's dirty laundry, the queen urged the royal pair to quickly divorce, and Charles agreed.
With Diana's consent to divorce, the legal proceedings could be simple and brief. Formally separated in December 1992 after 11 years of marriage, Charles and Diana have already exceeded the two-year separation minimum for an uncontested divorce.
The royal family is already well-versed in divorce matters - both Charles' sister, Princess Anne, and his aunt Princess Margaret were divorced.
The monarch is temporal head of the Church of England, which accepts divorce but its canon law bars remarriage while the first spouse is living. Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, the spiritual head of the Church of England, has said Charles and Diana's divorce "is in the best interests of all concerned."
Charles has said he has no plans to remarry but won't categorically rule it out. Parker Bowles divorced her husband last year.