• Princess Diana wrote a letter expressing her hope that 1997 “will be an easier year” for her.
• The letter was discovered among 32 letters and cards Diana wrote to her close friends Susie.
• The Kassems are auctioning off the collection, with a portion of the proceeds going to charity.

A tragic letter written by Princess Diana in which she expressed her hope that 1997 “will be an easier year” for her has surfaced as part of a collection of her private correspondence.

The Princess of Wales wrote the touching note on December 17, 1996, eight months before her death in a car accident in Paris.

The sombre tone of the two-page letter reflected Diana’s recent traumatic year, which included her divorce from Prince Charles.

In the letter, the Princess stated that she planned to spend Christmas 1996 abroad “in the sunshine,” adding jokingly, “I will top myself if I stay here!”

William and Harry spent that Christmas at Sandringham with their father and grandparents, as is customary for the Royal family.

Diana was widely assumed to have spent her final Christmas alone at Kensington Palace, but according to this letter, she had planned to travel abroad.

“I hope 1997 will be a better year for us all,” she continues.

Diana began dating Dr. Hasnat Khan, a heart surgeon, in 1997, but the relationship ended in July.

She then had a brief relationship with Dodi Fayed, who was killed in the car crash on August 31, 1997, alongside her.

The letter was discovered among 32 letters and cards Diana wrote to her close friends Susie and Tarek Kassem.

The Kassems, who got to know Diana well in her final two years, are auctioning off the collection, with a portion of the proceeds going to charity.

Diana wrote in a second, more upbeat letter to the Kassems in September 1996 that she was looking forward to the future after discovering a new sense of freedom.

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