Long before tying the knot with a high-profile Sony Music executive, Julia Carling made waves with her sharp remarks about Princess Diana.

Julia, a respected journalist and TV host celebrating her 61st birthday today, first crossed paths with former England rugby captain Will Carling at a dinner gathering in 1989. The couple exchanged vows in a charming ceremony at Castle Ashby in Northamptonshire in June 1994.

However, just a few months into their marriage, rumors began swirling about a possible romance between Carling and the Princess of Wales, which drew the ire of a young Prince William.

Carling and Diana reportedly met at the exclusive Chelsea Harbour Club gym in London in 1995. Their friendship allegedly blossomed when the princess humorously pointed out Carling’s incorrect sit-up technique.

As detailed by royal author Tina Brown, the bond between the rugby star and the royal grew so strong that Carling was introduced to Diana’s sons, Princes William and Harry, who were then 13 and 11 years old.

“William idolized Carling and met him several times with Diana,” Ms. Brown disclosed in her book, The Palace Papers.

The royal author added: ‘When Carling visited Kensington Palace for a romantic rendezvous, he gave both the boys a rugby shirt. It is unclear when William came to realise that his hero was a sporting visitor in more ways than one.’ 

But when Julia later discovered that her newlywed husband was making private visits to Diana at Kensington Palace, with his tell-tale blue Range Rover spotted in the car park, the television presenter was left utterly devastated.

Despite Kensington Palace dismissing any suggestion of a romance between the pair as ‘pure speculation’, by September 1995 news of Julia and Carling’s divorce hit the front pages and was then finalised the following year.

However, Diana wasn’t the only problem. Before their divorce had even been finalised, the rugby player had already struck up an affair with Ali Cockayne – whose sister Michelle was married to Gary Lineker at the time.

Julia Carling wed former England rugby captain Will Carling in June 1994. However, the sportsman had a rumoured romance with Princess Diana (both pictured) after the pair crossed paths while working out at Chelsea’s Harbour Club gym in 1995

In March 1996, Julia (pictured with Will) fired a seeming warning shot at Diana. ‘This has happened to Diana before. You hope she won’t do these things again, but she obviously does,’ she told a reporter. ‘However, she picked the wrong couple to do it to this time, she really did’

Initially, Julia seemed to make clear who she blamed for the irreversible breakdown of her and Carling’s marriage.

In a quote relayed to a newspaper by a friend, the television star said: ‘It would be easy to say she’s ruined my marriage, but it takes two to tango and I blame Will for getting involved in the first place.’

Yet it wasn’t long before her perspective appeared to have drastically shifted. In March 1996, Julia fired a seeming warning shot at her renowned royal rival.   

‘This has happened to Diana before. You hope she won’t do these things again, but she obviously does,’ she told a reporter.

‘However, she picked the wrong couple to do it to this time, she really did.’

Meanwhile, according to Ms Brown, behind closed doors, the publicly composed Princess was ‘livid’ about Julia’s scathing comments. 

Over a lunch with television personality Piers Morgan in 1996 and then 13-year-old Prince William, Diana declared: ‘She’s milking it for all she’s worth that woman.

‘I haven’t seen Will since June ’95.’

Meanwhile, William interjected: ‘I keep a photo of Julia Carling on my dartboard at Eton.’

In the years that followed her public divorce from Carling, Julia’s television career went from strength to strength. 

After starting as a so-called ‘video jockey’ for VH1 UK, she later went on to host on several mainstream channels including The Big Breakfast show on Channel 4 in 1999 and the BBC’s Top Of The Pops twice in 1996. 

In 2004, she co-authored health and wellness book, ‘Beauty Scoop’, with journalist Kate Shapland and has also expressed a profound interest in Egyptology – completing a diploma in the subject at Birbeck, University of London.

According to royal author Tina Brown, the rugby star and royal became so close that Carling  was even introduced to Diana’s young sons, Princes William and Harry (pictured with Carling in 1995) 

Over a lunch with Piers Morgan in 1996, Diana declared: ‘She’s milking it for all she’s worth that woman. I haven’t seen Will since June ’95.’ William interjected: ‘I keep a photo of Julia Carling on my dartboard at Eton’

She wed Rob Stringer, CEO of Sony Music, in 2006. The loved-up pair, who split their time between London and the US, were said to have met during her days of working in PR and share two daughters together.

In an interview with The Mirror in 2001, Julia candidly revealed how Rob ‘rescued me with the healing of love’ and was always ‘fighting my corner’. 

When asked if she still thought about Carling, she responded: ‘I know this will sound awful, but no.

‘Strange, isn’t it? You can marry a man, share a life together – for however short a time – and then have no interest in what happened to him afterwards.

‘But then I look back at myself and it was almost like another person who lived that life. Although those memories are very deep, although I still carry the scars and probably always will, it’s simply not something I want to keep raking over. 

‘It’s gone. And if he’s happy and settled now, well, good luck to him. But I’ve moved on.’

Julia did, however, get custody of her and Will’s beloved black labrador Biff following an out-of-court settlement.

While Julia and Stringer have mainly kept a low profile, in 2022 it was previously revealed that their daughter, Florence, had struck up a rather unlikely friendship with music star Harry Styles.

During a concert in New York in 2022, the singer told the crowd: ‘Sometimes when we get to NYC I have a few friends who come and it means a lot to me.

‘It happens to be someone’s birthday tonight & I would like to sing happy birthday to Florence who’s standing up there. Flossie floss Flozzza!’ 

Julia wed Rob Stringer (pictured), CEO of Sony Music, in 2006 after a six-year relationship. The loved-up pair, who split their time between London and the US, were said to have met during her days of working in PR and share two daughters together (also pictured)

After starting as a so-called ‘video jockey’ for VH1 UK, Julia (pictured with Chrissy Teigen in 2020) later went on to host on several mainstream channels including The Big Breakfast show on Channel 4 in 1999 and the BBC’s Top Of The Pops twice in 1996

Meanwhile, in the years that preceded his marriage to Julia, Carling’s perspective on his close bond with Diana appears to have changed. 

In 2004, he remained adamant that no affair had taken place with the so-called ‘Queen of People’s Hearts’ and told the Sunday Mirror: ‘No, no, no – how many times do I have to say it? We were friends…’

When asked about the breakdown of his and Julia’s relationship, he said: ‘I have to admit that I didn’t handle things very well, not very well at all. But there are two sides to every story, and no one has heard mine. That’s my choice, and I live with it.’

Yet by 2021, the ex rugby star was more forthcoming about his close bond with Diana and admitted that he had been ‘stupidly doing things you shouldn’t do’. 

During a podcast interview, he described the entire period as ‘a bit of a mess’ and a ‘fairly traumatic time’.

He explained further: ‘Just making messes of relationships because you’re sort of rudderless and you’ve lost your focus and you don’t behave well, and I didn’t.

‘Never intentionally or vindictively, I just think that was me, I just was in a bit of a mess.

‘You’re sort of like a car that’s lost a steering wheel and you’re careering all over the place. It wasn’t very pleasant.’

Before Carling and Julia’s divorce could even be finalised, Carling began a new relationship with Ali Cockayne. The pair share a son, Henry (pictured in 1998), but separated just 11 months after he was born

In 1998, Carling left Ali for Lisa Cooke, estranged wife of his friend and ex-England rugby player David Cooke. The couple wed in Fiji in 1999 and went on to have two children, Jack and Mimi, together

Indeed, before Carling and Julia’s divorce could even be finalised, Carling began a new relationship with Ali Cockayne – whose sister Michelle was married to Gary Lineker at the time.

The pair, who met at a testimonial match, went on to have a young son, Henry, in 1997 and were due to wed. However, just 11 months after the birth, it was revealed that Carling had found a new beau.

In the study of their sprawling home in Sunningdale, Berkshire, Ali discovered a press release which read: ‘Will Carling is leaving his partner Ali Cockayne for a future with Lisa Cooke.’

Lisa was the estranged wife of his friend and ex-England rugby player David Cooke, and their romance ignited again over another testimonial match at Wembley. 

Announcing he was leaving Ali in 1998, Carling released a statement at the time through his agent that declared: ‘This has been a very sad and painful time for everyone concerned.

‘It is even more difficult and emotional because of Henry, but I plan to fulfil my duties and responsibilities as a father.’

The couple’s dramatic split happened just a month after Will retired from rugby. Meanwhile, shortly after his new love affair with Lisa became public, the rugby player was reportedly fined £1million for cancelling a test match due to the fall-out.

The following year, Carling and Lisa married in Fiji in 1999 with her two children, Tom and Tali, from her earlier marriage the only guests. They went on to have two children, Jack and Mimi, together.

In later years, Carling revealed that it was Lisa who ‘transformed his life’ and that his beloved family life ‘is just it for me’.