Royal Expert Reveals Princess Diana Was Concerned About Prince Harry's 'Feeling of Inadequacy'

A royal expert recently disclosed that Princess Diana was very concerned about her younger son, Prince Harry. Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine and a royal biographer, claimed that Diana worried about Harry feeling inadequate in comparison to his older brother, Prince William. Seward stated that Diana opened up to her about the same. "She was very concerned about [Harry's] feeling of inadequacy with William," Seward told The Sun. As evidenced by the title of his memoir Spare— the phrase "an heir and a spare" is often used to describe royal siblings which automatically creates a hierarchy.

The expert recounted an incident from Harry's early school days that highlighted this issue. "Even when they were very little; when Harry went to Miss Minors, which was the baby school; after William had been there, the teacher there said to him, 'Here Harry, play with this clay, William used to be really good at making model figures.' Harry threw it down and said 'no!'" as per The Mirror. Seward emphasizes that this feeling of inadequacy was an inherent aspect of Harry's position as the younger prince. "From a very young age, Harry felt inadequate. It was nothing to do with Diana, nothing to do with Charles, but it was just there," she explained.

The biographer also challenges the notion that William and Harry were always close as children. "This [notion] that Harry and William were very close, is a myth," Seward states. "They were only really close after their mother died. Of course they unified and they were the only two people that knew what it felt like." Diana's concerns about Harry extended beyond his relationship with William. Seward reveals, "[Diana] said at one time she really worried about William, but then she started to be concerned about Harry as she said he had no interest in learning, he never picked up a book."

The late princess was very aware of Harry's emotional needs. "All Harry really wanted to do was have his mother to himself," Seward says. "He would sometimes pretend that he was ill at school so she could pick him up and take him home, so he could sit and watch television with her all afternoon. He was a very tactile young boy. Very close to his mother." Diana's efforts to protect Harry from feeling less important than William were evident in her interactions with other family members. Seward recounted, "When they used to go and see the Queen Mother, she would pat the chair and say 'come and sit here William' and completely ignore Harry, and that really upset Diana."

This concern also influenced Diana's educational choices for Harry. "That's one of the reasons she said to me she wanted him to go to Eton rather than some other school which might've suited him better," Seward explains. "She didn't want people to say 'he's stupid' or that 'he can't get in there.'" Seward concluded that Diana would be deeply troubled by the current rift between her sons. "What [Diana] wouldn't like is this fall out from the family. She would really hate that."