The late Princess Diana is said to have been “heartbroken” by the feud between Prince William and Prince Harry, according to a royal expert.
Richard Kay, editor-in-chief of the Daily Mail, told the Mail+ weekly talk show that if Diana were still alive, the “feud” between her two sons would not exist.
Tensions have been rising between the Princes since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex They left their roles as senior working members of the Royal Family in January 2020, before moving to the United States in June of that year at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kay, who was very good friends with Princess Diana and spoke to her up to six times a day, said Harry and William had been fighting over her “legacy”.
He told Palace Confidential: ‘They’ve been arguing about Diana’s legacy, they’ve been picking apart Diana’s legacy (and choosing) which part suits them best. I think it’s a great tragedy.
Princess Diana is pictured with her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, in London in 1995.
“What I knew about Diana was, first and foremost, her love for her children, that was clear to everyone, she loved those kids. I think it would have broken her heart.
“The big question is, would it have happened anyway if Diana had been with us? My view is that it probably wouldn’t have happened because she would have remained the central figure in both of their lives and would have avoided the consequences.”
Harry and William have had a notoriously frosty relationship in recent years – the Prince of Wales did not see his younger brother during his quick trip to the UK in May.
In his memoir, Spare, Harry went so far as to call William his “arch enemy” and said the duo had always “competed” and detailed alleged physical altercations between the two.
The trigger that caused the rift between William and Harry to develop is believed to have been when the then Duke of Cambridge advised his younger brother to “take things easy” when he began dating Meghan Markle in 2017.
Relations deteriorated further following Megxit and a source previously told People that the brothers’ relationship was “forever changed” and that they “will never go back to the way things were.” “Harry is looking forward to the future with his family,” they added.
Meanwhile, Kay said she believed Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, would have been “proud” of William and Kate for taking their places as Prince and Princess of Wales.
“I think she would be proud of William and Catherine and how elegantly they’ve edited the picture and how they’ve put themselves in her and Charles’ shoes with a young family,” he added.
Tensions have been mounting between Prince Harry and Prince William (pictured in 2021) since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down from their roles as senior working members of the Royal Family in January 2020.
Daily Mail editor-in-chief Richard Kay (pictured) told Mail+’s weekly talk show that if Diana were still alive, the “feud” between her two sons would not exist.
But the royal expert also said Diana would have been “hugely jealous” of the fact Prince Harry was able to “break away” from The Firm.
“You have to remember that Diana was radical, she was very unhappy, she was trapped within the royal system, she tried to break away from it but she couldn’t do it before her death,” Kay said.
“I think she would be incredibly proud of the fact that Harry has chosen a life outside the royal circle.”
Kay and presenter Jo Elvin also spoke about Harry’s controversial acceptance of the Pat Tillman Award last month.
He was an iconic NFL player who left his lucrative career to join the military after the 9/11 attacks before dying in Afghanistan in 2004.
Tillman’s own mother, Mary, told DailyMail.com she was “shocked” that the ESPYs “selected such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award,” adding that she was not consulted about the decision.
“There are recipients who are much more suitable. There are people working in the veteran community who are doing tremendous things to help them,” he said.
“These people don’t have the money, the resources, the connections or the privileges that Prince Harry has. I think these kinds of people should be recognised.”
Princess Diana is pictured with her sons Prince William (left) and Prince Harry (right) during a summer holiday in Mallorca in 1988.
During his speech, Prince Harry said: “Mary’s upholding of Pat’s legacy is something deeply personal and one I respect. The bond between a mother and child is eternal and transcends even the greatest of losses.”
Kay said the Duke of Sussex was talking about his relationship with his mother and the bond they had.
‘He “It was clearly a reference to Princess Diana and her loss at such a young age,” he said.
‘I think it was also a subtle way of approaching Pat Tillman’s mother, who publicly expressed her strong opinion that Prince Harry was not the right person to accept the award.
“I think he was trying to mend bridges with the way he did it, but a lot of people weren’t impressed.”
