AND still Diana keeps Charles guessing. Is the royal divorce finally on? Are his terms acceptable? Or is the "Queen of Hearts" ready to make one determined last stand?
There was near national celebration last week at the news that the Prince and Princess of Wales had more or less agreed terms for a settlement. The prince, we were told, had made his estranged wife a cash offer she couldn't refuse.
At Queen Elizabeth's insistence it appeared Diana was to remain "Her Royal Highness". Continued residence at Kensington Palace was guaranteed. And while Charles was determined she move her office out of St James's Palace (where he has his) he was reportedly ready to fund an alternative to the tune of an extra £400,000 per year.
Sources close to the princess let it be known she wanted matters brought to a swift conclusion. An announcement was thought likely ahead of President Mandela's state visit. The decree nisi could be obtained before their 15th wedding anniversary on July 29th, and it could all be over just six weeks after that.
Then came the signal that Diana's acceptance wasn't "cut and dried". Reports of Charles's generosity, it seemed, had been exaggerated. Instead of a cash sum estimated at between £15 million and £20 million, it was reported the prince was only prepared to cough up around £10 million.
Moreover, it seemed he might want some of it back in the event of Diana's remarriage. Various strings would be attached, preventing the princess borrowing against the capital sum. There was the small matter of a gagging clause. And Diana was said to fear she'd be turfed out of Kensington Palace after two years.
Moreover, sources suggested the matter of her title had not been agreed nor her future "ambassadorial" role satisfactorily defined.
The title business is somewhat confusing. Originally Diana was said to have offered to relinquish it. But having watched the fate of Fergie, reports say she had second thoughts. Apparently (though readers may find this hard to believe the Duchess of York's status "declined dramatically" once she was stripped of her royal prefix.
And, according to the Sun, the queen and Prince Philip are "adamant" Diana should be similarly divested.
But on this issue at least it seems Charles is on Diana's side. She is after all the mother of a future king. And it would hardly be seemly were Diana required to curtsy to "lesser" royals, like Princess "Pushy" of Kent.
And you can see that the money, too, could be a problem. We don't know what provision is being offered for her future residences. But an appropriate house in London is thought likely to cost around £5 million. And even though Diana hated all that time spent at Balmoral, a house in the country would seem to be a standard requirement.
If she has to meet those costs out of the cash settlement, Diana might be forced to cut down on the Versace, the beauty treatments and so on. Pending a settlement, the prince is presently shelling out £1.4 million a year to meet the princess's running costs.
Given the scale of her commitments, and the House of Windsor's estimated wealth, maybe these figures are not quite as absurd as they appear. And Capt Mark Philips (Princess Anne's first husband) has been round for tea, advising Diana not to sell herself cheap.
But this is dangerous territory for Diana, who might easily be recast as "Princess Greedy". And while she and the Queen Mother will stage a display of togetherness today at the Royal Tournament Diana couldn't get tickets and the Queen Mum invited her and the boys to join her in the royal box the fight for public opinion continues unabated.
One story in particular appears to underline the determination of the prince's party to win the battle for public sympathy. The Mail on Sunday carried a report by "a special correspondent" claiming Diana originally demanded a staggering £42 million plus a Lear jet.
Stunned officials "concluded with dismay and not a little disdain, that it was a Hollywood lifestyle they were being asked to fund".
The story also claimed that the breakthrough for the palace came out of the blue, by way of a letter from Julia Carling's solicitors advising them that the negotiations for the Carlings' divorce were not running smoothly either.
The implication that Diana might be entangled in the Carlings' divorce allegedly got the negotiations moving. And they were helped along, apparently, by the possible re emergence of the controversy over Diana's phone calls to the art dealer Oliver Hoare, and by suggestions that "the marriage of another close male friend was said to be under strain".
Royal watchers noted that there was no denial of any of this forthcoming from the princess or her advisers. And some court correspondents think the well planted story had the ring of authenticity.
Long before her Panorama interview, Diana's feelings about the palace courtiers was well known. She came to regard them as the enemy, and had to steel herself to face a formidable, sometimes ruthless, establishment machine. As she keeps the palace waiting, it seems Diana has had another reminder of its power.