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Prince William and Prince Harry continue to protect Princess Diana’s legacy. But according to royal experts, the brothers understandably struggled when their parents, King Charles and Princess Diana, began a very public divorce.
Both Charles and Diana made admissions about infidelity, appearing in their own respective TV interviews to discuss their failing marriage. Former Vanity Fair editor, Tina Brown, discussed Harry and William’s reactions to Charles and Diana divorcing in her book, The Palace Papers.
According to Brown, during the fallout from Charles and Diana’s television revelations, Prince William allegedly said (via the Daily Mail), “I hope you will both be happier now.” Brown claimed that the Prince of Wales said the words “with heartbreaking maturity, after both boys had shed their tears.”
‘The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor—The Truth and the Turmoil’
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The revelation that allegedly hit William and Harry the hardest occurred in their dad’s interview with broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby.
“They were heartsick at their father’s admission…that he had been forced into marriage to Diana by Prince Philip, and that he had been unfaithful to Diana with Camilla,” Brown wrote.
The brothers subsequently faced a “deluge of dirty laundry,” which they attempted to avoid, Brown explained.
The brothers subsequently faced a “deluge of dirty laundry.” | Credit: Getty Images
The public nature of Charles and Diana’s divorce impacted Prince William severely, and left some family members seriously concerned. “The Queen told a palace source that she was worried [Prince William] was going to have a breakdown,” Brown explained.
After Princess Diana’s Panorama interview, Queen Elizabeth reportedly urged the royals to make their split official by divorcing. King Charles and Princess Diana’s divorce was finalized on August 28, 1996. But it’s clear that the couple’s sons were greatly impacted by the difficult sequence of events.