Princess Diana's Butler Says She Never Would Have Let Prince Harry and William Grow Apart
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Nobody really knows exactly where things stand with Prince Harry and his brother, Prince William (we'll probably all find out when Harry's memoir drops later this year), but a royal expert says that their mother, Princess Diana, would never have let the rift between them get as bad as the reports are saying. In a new interview, Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, explained to OK! that she would have made sure that the two remained close — and friendly.
"She'd be heartbroken," he said. "It wouldn't have got as bad as this if she was still here. She'd have banged their heads together."
While it's been up to Kate Middleton to keep the peace between the two siblings (repordedly!), Burrell added that Diana wouldn't be shy about keeping her sons in line. He even went as far as saying that if she were still alive, the two brothers wouldn't have grown apart.
"She's probably the only person that could have done that," he said. "If Diana had been here, [the rift] would never have happened."
Burrell also said that he can't understand why the two brothers are even at this point. While they were growing up, he explained, they were close and after their mother's death, the butler assumed that they'd be "inseparable."
"It's incomprehensible to think about the boys being so distanced. I cannot get my head around it," he said. "I saw those boys grow up and they were tighter than you can possibly believe. They referred to each other about everything. When Diana died, I thought they would be inseparable."
Marie Claire explains that things seem to be getting better. William and Henry speak over video chat and should be seeing each other at the queen's Platinum Jubilee. That should help things, Burrell noted. He also said that Harry will need his brother, since his life in California is just so different from his upbringing in England (though that idea seems slightly far-fetched).
"Trying to resurrect his life by playing polo in Santa Barbara isn't going to cut the mustard," Burrell said of Harry's new life in California. "It's not the Guards Polo Club at Windsor where everyone he went to school with plays polo. What mates is he going to find in California? He's not grown up there with anyone."
"Harry's going to need his brother one day," he added. "I think he will come back to this country with his tail between his legs. His brother will put his arms around him and say, 'Welcome home, Harry.' I don't think he's totally happy. I think he's missing his brother, I really do. I think he's missing his family, I think he's missing his friends and the lifestyle he had here in England. I think he's given everything up for Meghan and I don't know how long he's going to be able to live that life."
