Ahead of Princess Diana’s 30th anniversary next year, Harry’s reported plans for a major television tribute are said to have sparked fresh tensions with William
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Next summer will mark the 30th anniversary of Princess Diana’s tragic death. But what was once an occasion that united Prince William and Prince Harry in grief is now threatening to drive an even deeper wedge between the estranged brothers.
With Harry, 41, back in the UK with Meghan Markle and their children, he appears to be wasting little time getting to work on what is reportedly a major tribute to his beloved late mother.
Earlier this week, Harry was spotted at a London production studio amid claims that he is developing a television project that will ‘occupy a lot of his headspace’ over the coming year.
The Daily Mail newspaper’s Senior Editor-at-large Richard Kay revealed, ‘I am told that one of the reasons Harry’s here is to make a television film, his own film, about his mother…That’s going to occupy a lot of his headspace over the next 12 months.’
Speaking on Palace Confidential, Kay predicted the anniversary will drag Diana’s legacy back into focus and place fresh strain on William and Harry’s already fractured relationship.
The brothers are understood not to have spoken for the best part of four years, and were last seen together in public at Charles’s Coronation in May 2023.
‘Diana has dominated the thinking of both William and Harry for the last ten years,’ Kay told host Luke Blackall.
‘When they made, nine years ago, those documentaries to mark the 20th anniversary of their mother’s death, that was the last time they were really in step together.’
Harry and Meghan ‘collecting footage’
‘I am told that one of the reasons Harry’s here is to make a television film, his own film, about his mother. I know he has been reaching out to his friends and others who knew her, asking them to contribute. That’s going to occupy a lot of his headspace over the next 12 months.
‘Of course, it throws up that old canard. People always link Harry to Diana, but she was the mother of two boys. William is just as much his mother’s son as Harry is, and Harry has tried to claim the Diana legacy for himself, to William’s intense frustration.
‘He does not bang on about his mother all the time, though he has at several points. This issue of trying to use Diana, the Spencer brand, the Spencer name, to divide himself away from the House of Windsor, I think is something we’re going to see even more of.
‘Let’s not forget who Harry spent time with when he was here in July, it was Diana’s family at Althorp.’
The rumoured project is likely to place his fractured relationship with William firmly back under the spotlight, with sources claiming the Prince of Wales is ‘horrified’ by the idea of Harry taking control of a high-profile tribute to their mother.
An insider said, ‘Apparently, they [Harry and Meghan] have been collecting footage and reaching out to people to arrange interviews with the full support of the Spencers, so there really isn’t anything standing in the way of this, aside from William. Of course he is horrified at the whole prospect.
‘Hearing that Harry and Meghan are hijacking this tribute to his late mother, and on U.K. soil, no less, has sent him around the bend.’
The brothers’ shared love for Diana might once have brought them together. Instead, the approaching anniversary appears to be threatening to create another battleground between them.
Meghan’s involvement sparks tension
Prince William is reportedly ‘horrified’ over Meghan Markle’s role in Prince Harry’s Diana documentary. A royal insider told Woman’s Day that Harry wants Meghan heavily involved in the project. The insider described her as his producing partner who brings real expertise to the table.
For Harry, however, having his wife by his side is said to make ‘perfect sense’, particularly as he has publicly spoken about the similarities he sees between Meghan and his mother.
According to the source, Harry feels Meghan’s perspective often adds a layer he wouldn’t have thought of on his own.
During the Sussexes’ 2022 Netflix documentary, Harry said, ‘So much of what Meghan is and how she is, is so similar to my mum. She has the same compassion. She has the same empathy. She has the same confidence. She has this warmth about her.’
The insider added, ‘From Harry’s perspective, it makes perfect sense to have Meghan heavily involved in this project. She’s his producing partner and she brings a ton of expertise to the table, and on top of that she really does remind him so much of his mother, he feels like her perspective on things always adds a layer he didn’t think of.’
However, comparisons between Meghan and Diana are already said to be a sensitive issue for William.
The Prince of Wales was previously reported to have been ‘disgusted’ by US reports that Meghan could launch a fashion line inspired by Diana. The claims emerged after her visit to Switzerland earlier this year prompted further comparisons between the Duchess of Sussex and her late mother-in-law.
The source says, ‘He can’t stand the narrative that Meghan is somehow this Diana 2.0. He says if anyone is like Diana, it’s Kate, who is just as devoted to her memory but in a much less showy way, which to William only proves his point, since Diana was never interested in the spotlight.’
A very different tribute
Harry is understood to have previously approached William about collaborating on a new project following their 2017 BBC documentary, Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy.
The programme marked the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death and saw the brothers put on a united front as they shared personal memories of their mother.
Neither William nor Harry was reportedly paid for the documentary, with any proceeds said to have been donated to charity. This time, however, insiders claim the brothers could take very different approaches.
William is expected to honour Diana with a ‘more understated’ tribute, while Harry has been accused of looking to ‘cash in’ on the huge global interest that continues to surround his mother’s life.
Harry has not confirmed that any television project is in development.
‘If Harry does go ahead with the project, there’s no doubt it’s going to be a big scale production with a ton of money behind it. It’s expected they will work with Netflix and they will want to get as many viewers worldwide as they can to cash in so the bound to be huge,’ the source says.
‘William tends to be a lot more understated about things so it’s hard to imagine they will be on the same page even from a production perspective.’
William’s anger at Netflix
As a private citizen, Harry is free to pursue commercial projects connected to his mother’s legacy. But his continuing relationship with Netflix is said to be another major source of anger for William.
The Prince of Wales was widely reported to have been ‘sickened’ by scenes depicting the circumstances surrounding Diana’s death in The Crown, Netflix’s fictional royal drama.
Harry and Meghan still retain a ‘First Look’ arrangement with the streaming service, potentially giving Netflix the first opportunity to consider content produced by the couple.
The insider says, ‘You also have to remember how angry William still is at Netflix. He says the way the family was betrayed on The Crown was unforgivable, it was a hatchet job in his view and he finds it pretty sickening that his brother would team up with them. There is no way he’d sign off on them having anything to do with it.’
‘It will be a miracle’ to reunite the brothers
After four years of silence, there appears to be little hope that William and Harry will repair their relationship in time to collaborate on a tribute.
William is reported to remain ‘furious’ about Harry’s public revelations, while Harry is said to be waiting for an apology from the Waleses – something royal observers believe is unlikely to happen.
‘There are still so many obstacles; the chances of them being able to come together and agree on anything are less than slim They aren’t even on speaking terms right now, how could they possibly produce any sort of tribute? It will be a miracle just to get them in the same room at this stage,’ the source says.
‘It’s very sad because the last time they did a tribute to their late mother things were so much different. They happily worked together and were totally in step on nearly everything. They were very, very close. And now, they won’t even communicate, it’s very hard to believe that things have deteriorated so much.’
Behind the brothers’ anger is likely to be the shared pain of losing their mother and facing another significant anniversary while still estranged.
The source believes Diana’s memory may be the only force powerful enough to bring her sons back together.
‘William puts on a very stoic front when it comes to anything to do with his brother but there’s no denying it’s taking a toll on him to be feuding like this,’ the insider says.
‘Kate knows it, and she knows how much this is upsetting the King, and Harry, too. If anything could bring them together, it would be the love and respect they both have for their mother. But things are so bad, even that doesn’t seem to be moving the needle on this war they have going on.’
