As the rift between Prince William and Prince Harry deepens, a resurfaced account claims Princess Diana once quietly prepared her younger son for the possibility of becoming king.
Veteran royal writer Richard Kay, a close confidant of the late Princess of Wales, revealed on the Daily Mails “Palace Confidential” podcast that Diana believed William was already aware of his destiny, yet remained “shy” and quietly uneasy about the future awaiting him.
“I think William has been a bit of a surprise,” said Kay. “He was a shy young man. Certainly, when his mother was still alive, she would tell me that she never really thought that William wanted the top job, as she called it. The idea that he would one day wear the crown.”
“She, in her mind, was preparing the way for the possibility that it would be Harry who succeeded his father,” he claimed. “And she had a little nickname for Harry: she used to call him ‘Good King Harry’ â a throwback to medieval days. And, of course, things havent worked out that way.”
Several royal experts who spoke to Fox News Digital pushed back on the claim, arguing that Diana always knew who would be king â and it wasnt Harry.
“Prince William didnt come out of the gate campaigning for the crown,” Kinsey Schofield, host of “Kinsey Schofield Unfiltered,” told Fox News Digital.Â
WATCH: PRINCE WILLIAM STILL HAUNTED BY PRINCESS DIANA’S TELL-ALL: AUTHOR
“He matured into it. That trajectory aligns well with the modern monarchy, which values duty over ambition. It positions him as thoughtful, measured, and crucially not entitled. In contrast, those who clamor for relevance tend to reveal exactly why they were never suited for the top job in the first place.”
“This reads less like prophetic insight and more like a mother managing two very different little boys,” Schofield shared.Â
“Diana was very sensitive to Harry feeling second best, so floating the idea of Good King Harry feels like emotional equalization, not constitutional foresight. Prince William was always the introspective one, burdened early by the weight of expectation. Diana didnt predict destiny so much as she tried to soften it.”
“The monarchy has never been uncertain about succession, only about sentiment,” Schofield continued. “Diana understood the emotional cost of the role better than most, and she saw that William felt it deeply. Questioning whether he wanted it wasnt doubting the institution; it was acknowledging that the job comes with a psychological price tag. Thats maternal realism, not constitutional anxiety.”
Kay noted that, similarly, people used to speculate whether Princess Margaret would be better suited for the role of monarch than .
“I think the consensus is ‘we got the right one,’ and I think we got the right one,” he said. “Weve got the right one in . He seems to have grown into the role. As observers, we probably all agreed that he seemed a bit reticent, a bit reluctant, a bit shy. But hes really grown into it.”
“What I quite like about what Ive seen of him … is that he is coming up with some quite different ways to approach royalty,” said Kay. “I think he recognizes that some aspects of monarchy … don’t resonate well with the modern public. And I think he’s aware that he’s going to have to make some big changes to ensure its survival.”
Before William accepted his royal fate, he wanted a badge, not a crown, British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital. The heirs childhood dream reportedly sparked a reaction from his brother.
“As a young child, William expressed disinterest in being king,” said Chard. “Instead, he wanted to become a police officer to protect his mother from press intrusion. In fact, like many children, he was obsessed with becoming a police officer, something William had passed on to his s
