The Reason Princess Diana Believed Prince Harry Would Be a More Suitable King Than Prince William

Princess Diana believed that Prince Harry had several qualities that would make him a very good king, maybe even better than his elder brother and legitimate successor to the British monarchy, Prince William. The information was provided by royal writer Angela Levin, who said that Diana believed her youngest son had the ideal temperament to rule as king in her book Harry: Conversations with the Prince.

As reported by the Express, Levin wrote in the book, "Harry’s seeming ability to cope, his ease with people and general gusto led Diana to believe that he would handle being king more easily than William. She even called him Good King Harry. Diana felt less confident in William. "William doesn’t want to be king and I worry about that. He doesn’t want his every move watched," Levin claims that as Diana's boys got older, she saw traits in Harry that she believed would make him a willing and decent king.

Despite William's age and obvious succession to the throne, she believed Harry had more traits appropriate for a leader, such as his "general gusto," "ease with people," and "ability to cope."

Diana did not necessarily believe that William was unfit to rule as king. She was aware that her elder son didn't desire the throne, however, and would often "worry about" how he would handle the responsibilities of royalty in the future.

Diana reportedly said, "William doesn't want his every move watched," according to Levin. Before his nuptials with Meghan Markle, Harry told Levin in an interview what type of monarch he believes he will be: "People would be amazed by the ordinary life William and I live. I do my own shopping. Sometimes when I come away from the meat counter in my local supermarket I worry someone will snap me with their phone. But I am determined to have a relatively normal life and if I am lucky enough to have children they can have one too. Even if I were king I would do my own shopping."

While talking about the last time they spoke to their mother Diana, Prince Harry stated in an ITV documentary: "I can’t necessarily remember what I said but all I do remember is regretting for the rest of my life how short the phone call was. If I’d known that that was the last time I was going to speak to my mother, the things I would have said to her. Looking back at it now — it’s incredibly hard. I have to deal with that for the rest of my life: not knowing that it was the last time I’d speak to my mum, how differently that conversation would have panned out if I’d had even the slightest inkling that her life was going to be taken that night."

Prince William also described that last phone call and added, "The very last memory I have is a phone call from Balmoral. At the time, Harry and I were running around, minding our own business, playing with our cousins, and having a very good time. Harry and I were in a desperate rush to say ‘Goodbye, see you later, can I go off?’ If I’d known what was going to happen, I wouldn’t have been quite so blasé about it. That phone call sticks in my mind quite heavily."

Editor's note: This article was originally published on February 14, 2024. It has since been updated.