Queen Elizabeth's Deathbed Confession About Princess Diana Revealed on Tragic Royal's 65th Birthday 

In the days following Princess Diana's tragic death in 1997, thousands gathered outside Buckingham Palace, leaving behind flowers and tears.

But, as OK! reported, Queen Elizabeth ­– who notoriously had a complicated relationship with the Princess of Wales – remained conspicuously silent.

It was five long days before the queen, who by now had been accused by the public and the press of being insensitive and downright cold, finally addressed the grieving nation.

"We have all been trying in our different ways to cope," she said in her speech to the world on September 5. "It is not easy to express a sense of loss, since the initial shock is often succeeded by a mixture of other feelings: disbelief, incomprehension, anger – and concern for those who remain."

She went on to pay tribute to Diana, calling her "an exceptional and gifted human being. In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness. I admired and respected her."

But the damage was done. The queen's initial silence seemed to cement the belief she had a rocky relationship with Diana, especially as her marriage to the then-Prince Charles fell apart.

Now, OK! can reveal Elizabeth eventually had a change of heart about Diana.

"On the queen's deathbed," says a source, "she admitted she was wrong about Diana. For years, she had regrets about how she treated Diana, but she never went as far as to say she was wrong about Diana."

The queen felt immense guilt, says the insider. "Had she and Charles treated Diana differently, the course of history would have changed and maybe Diana would be alive today. The queen blamed Charles for causing Diana to unravel. In a way, she felt he was responsible for her death because he set her on a path with the divorce that ended in tragedy."

According to palace whispers, Elizabeth also believed she had failed to show compassion at key moments – like during Diana's contentious divorce from Charles.

"Diana was right to feel sad, confused and shocked by the terms of that divorce," the insider adds. "If the queen were able to do it over again, she would no doubt have spared Diana grief by leaving her 'Her Royal Highness' status intact despite the divorce from Charles."

Had Diana survived the Paris car wreck which claimed her life in August 1997 at age 36, she would have celebrated her 65th birthday at the start of this month.

Instead, she died following her divorce from Prince Charles on August 28, 1996, which saw Diana officially stripped of the prestigious "Her Royal Highness" (HRH) title.

She retained the courtesy title "Diana, Princess of Wales" but lost her formal status within the royal protocol, technically requiring her to curtsy to her ex-husband and children.

The removal of the HRH prefix caused a significant shift in her official standing and royal duties.

Removing the title meant she was no longer an official member of the British Royal Family in a constitutional capacity.

Within the formal order of the institution, she was outranked by her own sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, who both retained their HRH titles.

Crucially, as she was no longer a working royal, the Palace also withdrew her official royal protection, forcing her to rely on private security – which many blame for her death.

The loss of the title was highly devastating to Diana. In response to her distress, then-14-year-old William famously promised to restore the title to her when he became king.

Despite the loss of her official royal status, she remained an active, globally recognized public and humanitarian figure until her tragic death in Paris.