Will Charles feel wounded by his boys?
AFTER ROYAL BROTHERS’ TELEVISED TRIBUTE...
she was. Charles had been brought up not to show emotions in public.
“But behind closed doors he was very tactile with them, he got down on all fours and romped around with them, and played rough and tumble games with them. We didn’t see that.”
She adds: “I don’t want to detract, they adored their mother and she died in the most terrible circumstances and this is their very personal tribute. It would just have been nice to acknowledge their father loved them and does still love them.”
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, also recalls a devoted dad. She says: “He would tell them stories in funny voices, he was always reading to them. He would take them to the theatre, for walks, teach them about gardening. And they loved going to watch him play polo, feeding the ponies sugar. That is where their own interest comes from.
“Their relationship was more private, but it was no less there.
“Sometimes in photographs of them on skiing trips and on family Christmas cards you see it. And there was a very sweet picture of he and Harry around 10 years ago, when Harry is doing up his father’s gloves.”
Yet Ingrid believes Charles’ security in his strong relationship with his sons will withstand any unintended snub.
What’s more, she believes the documentary was exactly as he would want it be – a tribute to Diana, which he would not expect to play a part in.
“He is not insecure enough to be upset by this,” she says. “If he thought this film was going to help them, he would have wanted them to do it.
“He loved Diana very much, he would be quite happy to have her lauded like this. He’d be pleased for the boys to let some of their emotions go.”
It is understood that Prince Charles was understanding of why William and Harry wanted to honour their mother in this way, and was kept informed about the documentary.
Psychologist Dr Susan MarchantHaycox says making the programme will have had life-changing benefits for the princes. Harry, 32, said he has only cried twice since Diana’s death.
Susan says: “Some people do not react immediately to grief, they internalise their emotions. Burying them can have an impact on your physical health and mental health.
“Now it is coming out for them, they will have a great sense of relief. This will help them in all sorts of ways, even in their own relationships.”
And despite their close bond, the princes may not have been able to talk openly to their father about Diana.
Susan says: “I would have thought Prince Charles would find it difficult to talk to his sons about it because of his relationship with Diana.
“And stating one’s feelings was never really done in the Royal Family.”
William confirmed a need to heal was behind their decision to open up. He said: “It’s been at first quite daunting, opening up so much to camera... but going through this process has been quite a healing process as well.”
Whether or not Charles is hurt by his omission from his sons’ tribute, he will certainly want what is best for the boys. He was always the quieter, more understated influence in their lives.
But he and the princes know he was no less the influence because of that.
There was a heartbreaking moment in the princes’ extraordinary TV tribute to their mother last night when Harry closed his eyes and seemed to physically feel again the hugs Diana used to give him.
His boyish expression as he talked with painful honesty about his devastating loss summed up the adoration he and William showered on their late mum throughout the ITV documentary.
But it was the sheer strength of their tribute, to mark 20 years after her death in a car crash in Paris, that made it all the more uncomfortably obvious what, or who, was missing: their father.
Apart from a fleeting reference as the boys talked about their parents’ divorce, the Prince of Wales was barely mentioned in William and Harry’s portrayal of their fun-filled childhood in Diana’s lifetime, and the impact of her death.
Despite being the parent there to help them rebuild their lives, and who has cared for and loved them longer than their late mother tragically could, Charles remained a silent spectre.
This, some fear, feeds into an overriding public perception that, at best, he was the colder, more distant parent or, at worst, his sons still in some ways hold him responsible for their parents’ marriage breakdown – which, they admitted, threw their lives into turmoil.
RThey could have just said a little kind word about their father’s love PENNY JUNOR, ROYAL BIOGRAPHER, ON TRIBUTE
oyal commentators believe Charles will be hurt by his omission from ITV’s Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, and that the boys’ tribute may have a damaging impact on their relationship with their father.
Royal biographer Penny Junor says: “This is sort of a love letter to their mother, the sort of thing everyone wishes they had said to their mother or father who suddenly dies, but they could have just said a little soft, kind word about their father’s love.
“It is clear in every photograph you see of them, these are boys who love their father and he is immensely proud of them. He has been there for them.
“They have turned out really well after the most terrible start in life. They have to credit their father with quite a lot of that. I think he might feel justifiably a little bit hurt, sad, that he doesn’t feature. It didn’t need to be much, just a nod to their father’s presence.”
She adds: “I’m sure his heart bleeds for them every day when he thinks of what they have lost, but I don’t think this will help their relationship.” The documentary painted a beautifully tender picture of motherly love between fun-loving Diana and her boys. William and Harry recalled the naughtiness of a mum “who brought a breath of fresh air to everything she did”.
They described how she smuggled sweets to them at school and organised for supermodels Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell to come to their home for a deeply embarrassed teenage William’s birthday.
But it felt a little pointed when William, 35, said: “We feel hopefully this film will provide the other side, from close family friends, you might not have heard before, from those who knew her best and... want to protect her memory.”
Penny was surprised not to hear anything of their carefree dad. She says: “Diana showed her emotions very openly because that was the sort of girl