King Charles found Princess Diana's style of parenting 'rather difficult' after traditional upbringing
Former royal protection officer Ken Wharfe believes that Diana was the 'complete opposite' of what the Royal Family were used to
Every parent has their own way of doing things and King Charles and Princess Diana's couldn't have been more different. The late Princess broke the mold as a royal mother and according to former royal protection officer Ken Wharfe, her husband allegedly found this "difficult".
Ken first met Prince Harry when he was three and he opens up on Channel 5's new documentary, Prince Harry in Therapy, about how we were all "witnessing a new style of parenting" with him and Prince William.
"The Prince at that time found that rather difficult," he alleges. "He was a man of tradition. Members of the Royal Family are not very tactile. Diana was the complete opposite of this."
The BBC's former royal correspondent Jennie Bond explains that the King had a "stiff and rather distant upbringing", so it perhaps makes sense that his "own method" was "a little more distant". King Charles was only three when Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne and she and Prince Philip went on an almost six-month Commonwealth Tour afterwards.
Her childhood friend Lady Anne Glenconner has previously said that the Queen was “marvellous” when she was home.
"Charles and Princess Anne were so small when she became Queen and she just had so much to do," Lady Glenconner claimed to OK! "In those days, it took ages to get to countries so she didn't have a great deal of time to be with her older two. When she was with them she was absolutely marvellous, but the Queen Mother looked after them a great deal."
Princess Diana had a very different, though aristocratic, upbringing and she was "tactile" in a way that Ken suggests the royals aren't usually. She was regularly pictured holding William and Harry in her arms, hugging them and holding them close.
Adapting to this "new" style might well have been "difficult" for someone raised as traditionally as King Charles. Diana loved treating her sons to trips to theme parks and the occasional McDonalds meal, giving them a more down-to-earth experience and insights into life outside the palace.
In the documentary, royal author Tom Quinn expresses his belief that "no way" Charles would have given his sons a bath, whilst "Diana did that kind of thing a bit more". However, he noted that she "still employed nannies".
If her parenting was a royal shake-up, then Diana and Charles's sons have taken this further. The Prince and Princess of Wales's children are very high up in the royal line of succession and they only have one nanny, Maria Teresa Borrallo, and she doesn't live-in.
William and Kate regularly do school drop-offs and pick-ups and it's been widely reported that when the kids were small, Carole Middleton would "turn up" at Kensington Palace to help with bath time and bedtime. Prince Harry and Meghan are equally hands-on with Archie and Lilibet and in an echo of Harry's childhood trips to theme parks, they recently took them to Disneyland.
Royal parenting has been forever changed and King Charles's experience of grandparenthood is likely very different. Jennie Bond has previously described his relationship with the Queen Mother as "magical" and thinks his "dearest wish" is to give all his grandchildren "a similar strong and loving relationship".
Prince Harry in Therapy airs at 9pm on Channel 5.
