When Diana's Private Letters Shed Light on William's 'Endless Supply' of Love for 'Naughty' Harry

Old letters of the late Princess of Wales detailed the undying love Prince William had for his younger brother Prince Harry. Princess Diana's letters to her long-time steward, Cyril Dickman, had heartwarming anecdotes describing William's "endless supply of hugs and kisses" for Harry. Dickman served the palace for five decades. A letter from March 2, 1985, according to the Mirror, read, "William adores his little brother and spends the entire time swamping Harry with an endless supply of hugs and kisses, hardly letting the parents near!"

Another dated July 18, 1993, recounted the time when Harry was eight years old. "The boys are well and enjoying boarding school a lot, although Harry is constantly in trouble!" Dickman was revered by the Princess, which was also expressed in one of her letters. In one penned on July 18, 1993, Diana expressed, "Thank you so much for your lovely letter concerning my grandmother. Her death came as a great shock, but it has meant an enormous amount to receive messages of support such as yours. I often think of you and Mrs Dickman and hope that life is treating you kindly."

The letters, sold off in a widely covered auction, encapsulated some of the heartwarming moments that were not charted by most royal biographers. Dylan Mander, a specialist at Cambridge-based auctioneers Cheffins, that sold Dickman's letters, said, "Cyril's grandson came in and said while he was going through everything he found all of these amazing letters from Princess Diana. The letters explained all different things— how Harry had been naughty at school and how Harry was adored by his brother who would not stop kissing him."

He added, "It is incredibly rare to have letters from Princess Diana with such a personal touch to them. She would not have had friends in the sense we do so you could say Cyril Dickman was one of her closest friends." The handwritten letters detailing the dynamics of the royal princes during their childhood prove particularly interesting now since the two are currently embroiled in a family feud. Prince William and Harry have reportedly not spoken to each other since their grandma, Queen Elizabeth II passed away. 

According to Time, Alexander Larman, author of The Crown in Crisis: Countdown to the Abdication and The Windsors at War: The King, His Brother, and a Family Divided, noted that the two brothers had differences even before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to the US. "Both of them are strong personalities, committed to a variety of causes and initiatives, and inevitably there have been clashes and disagreements along the way," Larman said. 

He explained, "Think of James II, who began as Duke of York and then made a spectacular mess of being king [in the 1680s] after [his brother] Charles II died. Or Richard III, who, if Shakespeare is to be believed, brought about the deaths of both his brothers Edward IV and the Duke of Clarence to ascend the throne [in the 1480s], only to be forced off it by Henry VII. Nobody’s thinking that Harry has had anything quite so dramatic in mind…yet, anyway."