Since the day he was born, Prince William has had his life mapped out for him, but according to one royal expert Princess Diana thought that her youngest son Prince Harry would be “better equipped” for the role of King following an unexpected outburst
Prince William and Prince Harry
From the days they were born, warring brothers Prince William and Prince Harry have always been on different life paths. For William, he has had his whole future life mapped out ahead of him. As an heir to the throne, he will probably one day be King and has been aware of his future life from a young age.
In contrast, as the ‘spare’, Harry’s life has been a lot less certain and now he’s even quit his role as working royal with wife Meghan Markle. But despite their different destinies, according to one royal expert, their late mother Princess Diana actually thought William’s younger brother Prince Harry would actually make a better monarch – and even had a secret nickname for him.
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The pair are embroiled in a bitter feud (Image: Yui Muk/AP/REX/Shutterstock)
The late princess didn’t divulge why she thought her youngest son would be a better fit for the top job. But it has been claimed that William often confided in her that “he didn’t want to be king’.”
And in reply, a young Harry is said to have declared: “If you don’t want the job I’ll have it.” According to royal expert Robert Jobson, this led to Diana privately calling Harry GKH – or Good King Harry. He told the Channel 5 programme William and Harry: Princes At War: “She used to refer to Harry as GKH (Good King Harry) because she thought he’d probably be better equipped for the role in the future than William.”
Meanwhile, TV broadcaster Jeremy Paxman also said Diana talked about her sons’ futures during a lunch meeting. He explained: “We talked about our children and she said William often told her that he didn’t really want to be king, and then Harry would say, ‘If you don’t want the job I’ll have it’.”
The brothers with their late mum, Princess Diana (Image: UK Press via Getty Images)
In 1995, during her famous Panorama interview with Martin Bashir, the princess was asked if the title of King should go directly to William, who was then aged 13. She said: “Well, then you have to see that William’s very young at the moment, so do you want a burden like that to be put on his shoulders at such an age. So I can’t answer that question.”
Relations between William and Harry have now long been strained and worsened after the accusations Harry publicly levelled at his brother in double tell-alls: his memoir Spare and his Netflix documentary.
In Spare, released just months after Elizabeth II died, Harry accused William of physically attacking him and pushing him into a dog bowl in a row over Meghan.
It was a far cry from how the brothers had been portrayed as having a tight bond – especially in the wake of the death of their mother Princess Diana. But according to royal biographer Ingrid Seward, the brothers have never been close – and any reunion between them may be “many years” off.
Speaking on True Royalty TV’s The Royal Beat, she said: “They painted this lovely picture that they were great friends, but they weren’t. There was always huge rivalry between them. They were never really great friends and I can’t see [them coming back together] until maybe many, many years in the future. If disaster struck one or other of them, that would bring them together. But I cannot see it happening [otherwise].”
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