How Princess Diana’s Legacy Has Driven Prince William and Harry Further Apart
Princes William and Harry may share the same mother, but royal editor Richard Kay believes Diana's legacy has become a source of contention.
Once as close as two peas in a pod, Prince William and Prince Harry are now barely on speaking terms, with the Duke's upcoming visit to the UK offering little hope of a reconciliation. While the brothers undoubtedly share a great love for their late mother, Princess Diana, royal expert Richard Kay believes it is Diana's legacy that is driving them further apart. He claims Harry's repeated assertions about carrying forward Diana's mission have irked the Prince of Wales, who also sees himself as honoring his mother's good works.
On the Daily Mail's Palace Confidential YouTube channel, Kay joined fellow editors Richard Eden and Rebecca English to discuss at length the Duke's upcoming trip to his home country. While on the topic, English shared her thoughts on an article by acclaimed royal journalist Tina Brown, which claimed that Harry "desperately" missed his brother and wished to use the trip to reconcile with him.
However, English believed that William would be wary of forgiving Harry, owing to the latter's constant criticisms of the family in his memoir, Spare. Chiming in, Kay provided another layer to their rift, explaining, "In fact, what has happened in the last four years is that their [William and Harry's] mother and the legacy and the memory of their mother has actually driven them apart."
Continuing his take on the situation, he stressed, "That's in part because of the way that Harry has tried to claim Diana for himself… He [Harry] was the one who was carrying on her [Diana's] mission. And William is quite right when—and I know he has complained about this—saying, 'Well, she was my mother too.'" He also supported Brown's assertions that although Harry and William once shared an extraordinary connection rooted in the trauma of losing their mother, that very same link has now become a source of contention. To this, English chimed in, alleging that William once labeled Harry's repeated attempts to claim his mother's legacy as "crass."
Indeed, various reports have painted William and Harry as being at a crossroads over the handling of their late mother's legacy. In an interview with Sky News, TV presenter Mark Dolan addressed the Duke's alleged plans to executive produce a Netflix documentary for Diana's upcoming 30th death anniversary—a project reportedly causing much dismay for William. Dolan stressed the severity of the situation, noting, "The bottom line is that if he [Harry] goes ahead and executive produces a documentary about his mother without William's permission, that's the end of their relationship. There will be hell to pay."
