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Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Lifestyle
Rachel Burchfield

If Princess Diana Were Alive, She’d Surely Have “Sorted” the Ongoing Feud Between Brothers Prince William and Prince Harry, Her Butler Says

Princess Diana, Prince William, Prince Harry.

Brothers Prince William and Prince Harry have been feuding for years—it’s a brother-on-brother battle that seems endless at this point—but, were their mother Princess Diana still alive, her butler Paul Burrell is confident she would have “sorted” the matter long ago. “She wouldn’t stand for this nonsense,” he said, per OK.

Even after the January 2023 publication of Harry’s memoir, Spare—which certainly didn’t help the already severely damaged relationship between Diana’s two sons—Diana would have forced a reconciliation, Burrell said.  

Were Diana alive, the William and Harry feud would have never escalated to this point, her former butler said. (Image credit: Getty Images/Tim Graham)

Diana died at just 36 years old on August 31, 1997, as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident in Paris; William was 15, and Harry just 12 years old at the time of her passing.

“If Diana was here, they would be different because she wouldn’t stand for this nonsense, and she would have sorted it out long before now—but, unfortunately, there’s nobody here that can sort it out,” he said.

Harry now lives an ocean away from William, who is in the U.K., as Harry, his wife Meghan Markle, and their kids Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet now call Montecito, California home. Burrell said that, when it comes to mending fences, Harry “might be holding out hope for when William becomes King,” he said, adding that, in his opinion, by then, the opportunity would have been missed.

In Diana's absence, no one has stepped up to sort it out between the two brothers, Burrell said. (Image credit: Getty Images)

It’s not fully clear where relations are between Harry and the rest of the royal family at present, but it’s not believed that William and Harry are in any type of communication at the moment, and Harry and his father, King Charles, missed the chance to see one another when Harry was last in the U.K. back in May, celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the Invictus Games, which were founded in 2014.

Harry remains estranged from both his father and brother. (Image credit: Getty)
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