Prince William’s life has been full of experiences. Since birth, the future king has been groomed to become king after losing his mother, Princess Diana, as a teenager. William and the Royal Family have honored Diana in many ways since her passing.
Diana sought to raise William and Harry as normally as possible, exactly like the Prince of Wales and Kate Middleton are doing with Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
William is like his beloved mother in more than simply how he raises his children. No, the Prince of Wales disclosed another painful Diana custom.
Prince William and Prince Harry were best friends as children, and Princess Diana’s death reinforced their friendship.
Being in the Royal Family always entails a different childhood than “average” individuals. But Diana wanted her sons to feel normal, as some of her previous letters showed. Diana wrote a letter in March 1985, six months after Harry was born.
How Princess Diana raised William and Harry
William adores his little brother and spends the whole day smothering Harry in hugs and kisses, barely letting the parents near! Diana’s handwritten letter states, via The Sun.
Diana’s letter to Cyril Dickman, a former Buckingham Palace steward, was auctioned in Cambridge in 2017. Diana said that older Prince Harry was “constantly in trouble” at school. She also wrote of the joy of motherhood and the “difficult period” that followed.
Diana frequently took William and Harry to theme parks and other attractions. She understood the need of treating them like any other child, despite their royal status. For this reason, she would slip them out of the castle for fast food.
“I remember the princess came into the kitchen one day and said, ‘Cancel lunch for the boys, I’m taking them out, we’re going to McDonald’s,” Diana’s former personal chef, Darren McGrady, told Marie Claire
I answered, ‘Oh my God – your Royal Highness, I can do that, I can do burgers.’ No, it’s the toy they want, she said.
“We wish she were here”
Prince William and Prince Harry reconnected in summer 2021 when a statue of Diana was unveiled in Kensington Palace’s Sunken Garden on Diana’s 60th birthday.
“Today, on what would have been our Mother’s 60th birthday, we remember her love, strength, and character – qualities that made her a force for good around the world, changing countless lives for the better,” Harry and William stated.
Every day, we wish she were here, and we hope this statue will eternally represent her life and legacy.”
The brothers discussed Diana again in 2017, 20 years after her death.
“When everyone says ‘she was funny, give us an example’. Harry said he could only hear her chuckle.
“She was one of the naughtiest parents; she’d watch us play football and smuggle sweet into her socks, walking back from a game with five packages of candy. The blouse was filled of sweets.”
William said, “We felt incredibly loved by her, and I’m very grateful that the love still feels there.“It feels good to remember her and hopefully show a different side.”
Kate Middleton and Prince William are parenting their kids ‘as normal as possible’
William tries to adore his kids like Princess Diana did. One of the ways he and Kate Middleton seek to modernize the monarchy is by raising Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis normally.
According to royal and body language expert Judi James, that applies to all aspects of their children’s lives.
James told the Daily Mail in 2023 that his parents constantly encourage George, Charlotte, and Louis to be energetic, fun, spontaneous, and even naughty in public, often seeming at their most proud and doting.
The expert said the Prince and Princess of Wales have a “unique” parenting style for their children’s futures, but kids need to have fun.
“William and Kate’s parenting duties were always going to be unique as they induct a prince, princess, and future king into the royal family’s rules, traditions, and formalities while allowing three small children to have as much fun and freedom as possible,” she said.
Prince William and Harry learned a lot from Princess Diana, and the future monarch wants to maintain that legacy.
“We are very normal in that sense” William and Kate have discussed their parenting many times in the past decade. In 2016, before Prince Louis was born, William and Kate said they intended to keep their sons’ lives as normal as possible despite their circumstances.
William remarked in 2016 that his family is typical. I love my kids like any parent, and I hope George loves me like any son does his dad. We are normal in that way.”
Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis have royal and non-royal relations. Carole and Michael Middleton, their mother’s parents, aren’t royal, which shaped their childhood. Kate Middleton said her parents’ parenting style influenced her during a 2017 elementary school visit.
“I realize how important kindness, respect, and honesty have been to me throughout my life because my parents taught me about them. As we raise our children, William and I aim to instill the importance of these values. I think it’s as vital as maths or sports, Kate added.
Talking to OK! Royal expert Katie Nicholl, author of The New Royals, said Michael and Carole were crucial to the royal children’s early years.
Prince William wants to teach his kids “some of us need a helping hand”
They often assist William and Kate with kid care, especially since Kate’s cancer diagnosis.
“Having Kate’s family so intrinsically linked with them is key,” Katie Nicholl said. “The Middletons give those kids normality and stability. They attend bucket and spade holidays, parties, and provide support for William and Kate. They’re just affectionate, typical grandparents.”
Diana’s legacy lives on in the Royal Family. In the infamous BBC interview after her royal exit, she declared she wanted to be “a queen in people’s hearts,” not queen. Diana wanted to help everyone and taught her kids that everyone was struggling.
Diana wanted her children to know how awful the world was outside Buckingham Palace, no matter how devastating.
William now wants to teach his kids that others are less fortunate. George, Charlotte, and Louis should know that “some of us need a helping hand,” he told the Sunday Times.
Diana took him and Harry to a homeless shelter as children, and the future king will do the same.
The tragic reason Prince William is continuing Diana’s legacy with his children
“My mother introduced me to the cause of homelessness from a young age, and I’m glad she did,” William said. “I think they’ll be exposed to it if I can balance it with school. On the school run, we discuss what we see. We saw individuals sitting outside supermarkets while going back and forth in London and talked about it.
“I’d ask the kids, ‘Why are they there? What’s up? I think exposing children at the proper time, in the correct dialogue, so they comprehend is in all our interests and the right thing to do.”
Royal analyst Katie Nicholl told OK! that Prince William’s passing on his mother’s ideals is fitting.
“Not just Diana—Charles wanted his sons to understand life outside the Palace walls,” she continued. “They both wanted to raise those boys with an understanding of normal life outside royal protocol.”
William and Kate’s children are undoubtedly more aware of homelessness than most rich youngsters because their father has fiercely campaigned for it since he was 18. I think their eyes were wide open from an early age due to William and Kate’s hard work, she said.
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