Princess Diana wasn't going to 'surrender' William to the system that left King Charles 'incapable of being emotionally open'
She allegedly felt a ‘lack of parental tenderness’ affected King Charles and wanted to do things differently with Prince William
From the moment Princess Diana became a mother for the first time in June 1981 she was determined to do things differently to other royal parents - particularly Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. According to biographer Ingrid Seward in Catherine & Diana, the late Princess felt that her husband had been negatively affected by how he was raised in the royal household.
"Charles was not short of love, which came from his two nannies, Helen Lightbody and Mabel Anderson, but Diana believed his lack of parental tenderness had rendered him incapable of being emotionally open and honest," she claimed. "He had been deprived of crucial early nurturing by the one parent who really mattered: his mother."
Ingrid went on to defend the late Queen's approach, remarking that it's "not fair to lay the blame at her feet". Charles was only four when his mother became monarch and entered a "man's world where women and women's opinions mattered little".
"Her duties prevented her from being the kind of mother she had so wanted to be," the author adds. Shortly after ascending the throne, the Queen set off on an almost six-month Commonwealth Tour, leaving Charles and Anne at home for most of it.
On top of the couple's busy schedule, the Royal Family also traditionally relied on nannies and had a less hands-on style of parenting. In contrast, Princess Diana wanted Prince William to grow up with the "tenderness" she allegedly felt her husband missed out on and "didn't care how many people she upset or how many toes she trod on".
Ingrid continued, "She was not going to surrender her child to the antiquated royal system her husband had been subjected to."
Prince William and Prince Harry received a totally new type of royal upbringing, complete with trips to theme parks and McDonald's meals. Diana was regularly photographed hugging her sons or holding their hands and taking them to school.
Both of the Princes have followed in their mum's footsteps with their own parenting and are incredibly open with the world about their struggles, more so than any royal generation before. Instead of shying away from the question, William directly addressed how awful 2024 was after his wife and father were diagnosed with cancer.
"It's been dreadful. It's probably been the hardest year in my life. So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult," he explained. "I'm so proud of my wife, I'm proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done. But from a personal family point of view, it's been brutal."
Princess Diana would surely be proud of her son's emotional honesty and the Prince and Princess of Wales are focused on giving George, Charlotte and Louis a happy, calm childhood. William has said he knows "drama and stress" when you're young affects you in adulthood and tries to work his duties around family life.
"Most days we're in and out of school doing drop offs and pick ups," he said on The Reluctant Traveler. "Getting the balance of work and family life right is really important, because for me, the most important thing in my life is family."
