William and Harry Were Denied Grief Therapy After Diana’s Death — and the Reason Is Damning
A Palace staffer claims Charles requested counseling for his sons after Diana's funeral — the Queen agreed, but advisors blocked it.
For the royal family, image is everything, and to preserve that, many cruel decisions have been taken. According to author Christopher Andersen, that is precisely what happened to Prince William and Prince Harry in the months after their mother died, and it was not through indifference, but through a deliberate choice made at the highest levels of the Royal household.
In his book Brothers and Wives, Andersen alleges that the decision to deny the young princes grief counseling after Diana's death in 1997 was not a matter of oversight. It was a matter of optics. A St. James's Palace staffer told Andersen that Charles had, in fact, approached the Queen about arranging therapy for his sons in the immediate aftermath of the funeral. The Queen, initially, agreed. Then her advisors stepped in.
"There was concern among some of Her Majesty's advisors that it 'would simply not look good at the moment' for members of the royal family 'to be seen to have mental health issues,'" Andersen writes. The request was then quietly shelved. William and Harry, both still children, were left to grieve without professional support — because the institution decided its image mattered more.
What makes the allegation land heavily is the context Andersen provides. This was not the first time Charles had sought help for his sons. He had previously resisted hiring a therapist for William and Harry during the breakdown of his marriage to Diana. Andersen suggests that his change of heart after her death was genuine. It just wasn't enough to override the Palace machinery.
The therapy denial was not the only occasion, Andersen alleges, where the princes were quietly managed out of moments that belonged to them. According to the book, William and Harry were also maneuvered out of attending the dedication of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial in Kensington Gardens — a ceremony held in honor of their own mother.
"No one had bothered to inform the princes about the dedication," a former deputy private secretary at St. James's Palace told Andersen. The fallout, when they found out, was significant. "'They were both furious when they found out — particularly William,' a former deputy private secretary at St. James's Palace stated."
The reason, Andersen alleges, was not logistical. Royal commentator Harold Brooks-Baker told the author that Charles was aware of the event all along. "'His father claimed to be in the dark about it as well,' Harold Brooks-Baker said, 'but that wasn't true. He wanted the focus off the princess and on Camilla once and for all. Every time the public was reminded about the love Diana had for her boys, Charles and Camilla both took a dive in the polls.'
