Secret disagreements, press intrusion, and a devastating phone call. How does Princess Diana
continue to influence both of her sons' lives, more than two decades after her death? This
is the surprising truth of Prince William's relationship with Diana.
Diana Spencer and Prince Charles had a whirlwind engagement and a marriage fraught with strife
and infidelity. The pair officially separated in 1992 and finalized their divorce in 1996.
Both parties were rumored to have had extramarital affairs during their union.
While Charles famously maintained his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles,
Diana is known to have cheated, too. Many people may not know, however,
that Prince William apparently knew about his mother's infidelity. In a Vanity Fair
article examining Diana's relationship with her sons and the press, Piers Morgan alleged,
"[William was] clearly in the loop on most of her bizarre world and,
in particular, the various men who come into it from time to time."
Princess Diana was known for her immense compassion. From her work with homeless
communities in England to her touching efforts during the AIDS crisis, the princess reached
many people. Not only was Diana singularly kind, but her affection was very unusual
for a member of the royal family, which is a notoriously stiff-upper-lip institution.
While Prince William must embrace the royal family's serious ways as the future king,
he also has a softness and emotional openness that is a direct tie to his
late mother.
While William might have a somewhat staid exterior,
his dedication to charitable work harnesses the very sentiment Diana passed on to her sons.
Princess Diana's interview with Martin Bashir has become infamous. The sit-down was incredibly
damning to both the royal family and Diana's failed marriage to Prince Charles. However,
it was the fallout and subsequent argument she had with Prince William that reportedly sealed a
horrific fate for the princess. Simone Simmons, a close friend of Diana's, revealed that after
the interview aired, the princess had a huge fight with her eldest son. As Simmons told Vanity Fair,
"William was absolutely livid [...] Of course it was in all
the papers and William told me he was teased at school because of it.
He felt really bad for his mum because of what she had gone through, but he was furious with her."
Recalling the weekend after the interview initially aired, William and Diana reportedly
got into a huge argument, which left Diana very upset. As Simmons revealed,
"I was there the day after she spoke to him and Diana was in a terrible state."
When Princess Diana and Prince Charles separated in 1992, it sent shock waves
through the Commonwealth. The pair had tied the knot in a lavish, fairytale wedding ceremony,
and welcomed two beautiful children, essentially living the perceived royal
dream. But their marriage crumbled, and by 1996, the two were finally divorced.
Per The Mirror, Diana was given a large lump sum of approximately £17 million,
being awarded an additional annual payment of around £350,000.
While she was taken care of financially, Diana lost many royal perks as a result of
her divorce. It was decided that Diana would no longer be referred to as "Her Royal Highness."
The loss of this title was important, as it meant that she would have to curtsy to
members of the royal family, including her ex-husband and their two children.
However, Prince William reportedly intended to set this right when he eventually became
king. According to Diana's former butler,
Paul Burrell, in an interview with The Mirror, William told his mother,
"Don't worry Mummy. I will give it [HRH title] back to you one day when I am king."
As kids, we often look to our parents for guidance, and they teach us how to
navigate certain issues and situations. While Princess Diana was certainly an
inspiration to the British public and the world at large, she was also a hands-on mom,
a dedication that set her apart from other royals. And while William and Harry have commemorated
their mom in a number of ways since her passing, William is said to view Diana in a different way.
This is potentially due to the struggles in Diana's life that William was privy to,
and the fact that he was older than his brother when their mother died.
As royal biographer Tina Brown explained in her
book "The Palace Papers," Harry was reportedly mischievous like Diana and
emulated her emotional process far more than his brother did. Brown wrote,
"William understood Diana more but idealized her less. He was privy to her volatile love life. He
knew the tabloids made her life hell, but he also knew she colluded with them. By his early teens,
he was his mother’s most trusted confidant. She used to describe him as 'my little wise old man.'"
Princess Diana's sit-down interview with Martin Bashir at the BBC
is still viewed as one of the most shocking moments in modern royal family history.
Diana's confessions and brutal honesty marked the final nail in her marriage's
coffin. And while Diana and Charles' union had been plagued with infidelity,
Prince William believed that the BBC failed not just Diana, but both of his parents.
"Well there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
After it was discovered that Bashir used falsified documents to lure Diana in for the interview,
an internal investigation was conducted. William released a scathing statement,
blaming not only the reporter, but the BBC at large. The prince said
he was saddened the BBC hadn't investigated complaints that were first raised in 1995,
and that would've let his mother know she'd been deceived.
"The interview was a major contribution to making my parents' relationship worse,
and has since hurt countless others."
In the early hours of August 31, 1997, Princess Diana and her companion,
Dodi Fayed, left their Paris hotel. Tragedy struck for the couple
when the car they were traveling in, which was being pursued by paparazzi,
crashed in a tunnel. Fayed and the car's driver were pronounced dead at the scene,
while Diana died in hospital hours later. Their bodyguard was the only survivor of the crash.
Hours before the crash, Princess Diana called her two sons,
and they've both indicated that the conversation haunts them to this day. Per The New Yorker,
Harry and William were at Balmoral Estate in Scotland at the time.
When Diana called, both boys were reportedly looking forward to playing outside, so they cut
the conversation short. In the HBO documentary, "Diana, Our Mother," William confessed,
Harry, too, has expressed regret at the brevity of the phone call, and the fact that he couldn't
possibly have known it would be the last time he'd speak to his mother.
For many, the image of Prince William and Prince Harry walking behind their mother's casket
is heartbreaking and impossible to forget. In the HBO documentary, "Diana, Our Mother,"
William unexpectedly revealed that, while shattered by the passing of his mother,
he struggled to put his experience into words.
William further shared that while the royal family rallied around him and Harry,
his young age stopped him from fully realizing what he had actually gone through. Understandably,
it took the princes many more years to come to terms with such an earth-shattering loss.
It's clear that William has always had a soft spot for his mom.
And according to BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond, a young Prince William once
slipped his mother tissues under the bathroom door when he heard her crying.
Bond also revealed that William promised to always look after his mom, telling the Express,
"It was all the wrong way round for William [...] He was having to comfort his mother
when she should have been looking after him — he was just a little boy."
Howard Hodgson, in his book, "Charles — The Man Who Will Be King," revealed that the traumatic
divorce of Diana's parents impacted her own ability as a mother. He alleged,
"This had the effect of giving out unpredictable doses of love or stress,
and it clearly made an impression on the dramatic side of Diana’s character:
Diana was to put Prince William through the same experience at an equally young age."
Princess Diana was regularly harassed by the paparazzi throughout her life.
In fact, the attention got so bad that Prince William reportedly encouraged his
mother to leave the United Kingdom in order to gain freedom from the cameras. Sadly,
his words allegedly came very shortly before her death, per the Express.
In the 2007 documentary "Diana: Last Days of a Princess,"
royal photographer Arthur Edwards recalled the effect William's words had on his mother.
While trying to photograph Diana, Edwards had a discussion with the princess about
the media's interest in her. According to the photographer, Diana told him,
"William's told me that I should leave England and go and live somewhere else."
Of the interaction, Edwards reflected,
"I thought, 'I don't want to be the reason why she's going to live in exile.'"
The rift between Prince William and Prince Harry is well-documented. In recent years,
the brothers haven't seen eye to eye, with the bulk of the drama
seemingly commencing after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot. However,
the feud may go deeper than that, as Princess Diana's biographer Andrew
Morton revealed during an appearance on ITV's "Loose Women." As Morton recalled,
"She saw Harry as the wingman for William in what would be a very solitary, somber, and solemn job."
Morton made it clear that the princess had been thinking about William's eventual reign
and what it would mean for her sons. The biographer continued,
"She would have been very upset at the way these two have split apart."
Here's hoping that the two brothers mend their relationship with time.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more List videos about the royal family
are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.