If Princess Diana Were Alive, She’d Surely Have \201cSorted\201d the Ongoing Feud Between Brothers Prince William and Prince Harry, Her Butler Says

Princess Diana, Prince William, Prince Harry

(Image credit: Getty)

published 5 July 2024

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.

Diana William Harry Ski Holiday — Were Diana alive, the William and Harry feud would have never escalated to this point, her former butler said.

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.

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“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.

Princess Diana, Prince William, and Prince Harry — In Diana's absence, no one has stepped up to sort it out between the two brothers, Burrell said.

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.

King Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry — Harry remains estranged from both his father and brother.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.