Prince William and Prince Harry were stuck in the middle when it came to then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s high-profile split.
On December 9, 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced to the public that Prince Charles and Princess Diana would be going their separate ways.
Amid the pressures their parents were under, William, then 10, and Harry, eight, were undoubtedly suffering.
The two brothers reportedly endured the split of their parents “heartbreakingly maturely” (Credit: Shutterstock)
Prince William and Harry’s struggles amid Charles and Diana’s split
Andrew Morton’s book, Diana: Her True Story, had released just five months earlier. Inside, it revealed how severely Charles and Diana’s marriage was allegedly failing.
The four years that followed were unfortunately also awash with the former couple’s airing of dirty laundry.
In 1993, the Tampongate tapes were released which exposed an alleged steamy phone call between Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.
Following such a scandal, Prince Charles sat down for a tell-all TV interview with Jonathan Dimbleby in June 1994.
By 1992, the then-Prince and Princess of Wales had split (Credit: David Levenson/Shutterstock)
In the interview, Charles admitted he had been unfaithful after his marriage to Diana had “irretrievably broken down”.
By November, Dimbleby had published a jaw-dropping book, named The Prince of Wales.
The book featured shocking private letters and diaries that the prince had given him unprecedented access to.
The biography portrayed how Prince Philip had allegedly forced his son into a loveless marriage.
As per MailOnline, Tina Brown, former editor-in-chief of The New Yorker magazine, met with Princess Diana a string of times – including at a lunch with Anna Wintour, shortly before Diana’s death.
William and Harry acted with ‘heartbreaking maturity’
In her book, The Palace Papers, Brown claimed that William and Harry had been subjected to Prime Minister John Major’s announcement of his mother and father’s split whilst in school.
They had, fortunately, been warned by their parents in advance. Although, it is hard to imagine that made it much easier.
“I hope you will both be happier now,” William allegedly said, according to Brown. “With heartbreaking maturity, after both boys had shed their tears.
Is it true, Mother? Is it true that Daddy never loved you?
“They were heartsick at their father’s admission to Jonathan Dimbleby that he had been forced into marriage to Diana by Prince Philip. And that he had been unfaithful to Diana. On the morning of October 17, 1994, they were summoned to the headmaster’s study for a meeting with Diana, who had rushed to Ludgrove once again to perform damage control. They wanted answers.”
According to Andrew Morton, William asked his mother: “Is it true, Mother? Is it true that Daddy never loved you?”
Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s relationship was reportedly very turbulent (Credit: Shutterstock)
Prince William and Harry subjected to ‘deluge of dirty laundry’
Despite attempts to shield William and Harry from the “deluge of dirty laundry,” being aired about their parents, according to Brown, William used to slip into his protection officer’s room to watch the coverage about his parents.
In 1995, Princess Diana had her own say on BBC’s Panorama.
It was here that she famously stated: “There were three of us in the marriage. So, it was a bit crowded.”
Princess Diana tried to shield her two boys (Credit: Shutterstock)
This interview, Brown claimed “inflicted more wounds”.
At the time, Prince William was only two months into his studies at Eton College. At the time, Brown described, William was in a “fragile” state.
Royal Insider has contacted Prince William and Prince Harry’s representatives for comment.
In wake of the fallout between Charles and Diana, in 1996, Queen Elizabeth reportedly urged the two to officially divorce – which they of course did.
Heartbreakingly, Princess Diana died just a year later, aged 36.
Read more: Prince Harry ‘sad and tired’ during public appearance with Meghan Markle in New York
So, what do you think of this story? Do you remember their split? Tell us in a comment on our Facebook page @RoyalInsider. We want to hear your thoughts!
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