comfort her. Fortunately her lady-in-waiting was able to rearrange Diana’s clothing to cover the cuts, bruises and tears in the fabric, but it was a close thing.
It was the kind of scene Diana, in her more volatile moments, did her best to shield her sons from. She was aware that Harry’s screaming fits tended to follow her own low moments and that William was forced to calm his brother more and more.
Harry’s distress continued even when he was asleep and he regularly wet his bed as well as suffering dreadful nightmares, even though Diana often slipped into his bed to comfort him. She was all too familiar with what it was like for a young one to suffer marital disharmony: she had cried herself to sleep at a similar age when her own father, the 7th Earl Spencer’s son Johnnie, and her mother had screamed, shouted and even punched each other before heading for a bitter battle in the divorce court. Diana had found herself motherless after the then Viscountess Spencer lost custody of her and her siblings after her own mother, Lady Fermoy, sided with her son-in-law.
This was a situation Charles simply could not understand: how could he? If and when his own mother and her consort ever had disagreements they were never in front of the children.
As the rift between husband and wife grew wider, the rows got louder. When the Queen’s former press secretary, Michael Shea, said of the couple: ‘The only arguments they ever had were over the children,’ Charles was heard to retort, ‘Huh, the only arguments he was privy to, maybe.’
Diana did everything she could to compensate not just for the marital discord but also for the restrictions royal life necessarily placed upon her boys. There were trips to McDonald’s (something Charles disapproved of, saying, ‘I would never have been allowed to go to such places’), visits to the cinema (‘Why? There’s a perfectly good screen at BP and I can ensure you get any films you want’), sitting on Santa’s knee at Harrods (‘When the store was open to the public, for heaven’s sake? What were you thinking of?’) and excursions to theme parks where they could scream on thrill rides alongside the rest of the kids.
She could not, however, be with her boys when they were at school, but Ken Wharfe was and she relied on him to keep her up to speed with what went on, particularly with Harry at Mrs Mynors’ infant academy. He brought home stories of the mischievous son’s activities, which frequently had Diana curling up with laughter. There was the occasion when, during morning assembly, Harry persisted in tugging at the trousers worn by the piano-playing music master, Mr Pritchard. When the teacher finally lost his patience and demanded that Harrystopped pulling his trousers, the young Prince piped up, ‘But Mr Pritchard, I can see your willy.’
Wharfe was not the only man to arrive on the scene in 1986, for that was the year Diana met the man who was to change her life – and Harry’s: the dashing cavalry officer James Hewitt. It has to be said that Major Hewitt was an instant hit with her younger son. Although he still had his third birthday to come, the young Prince was already showing an interest in all things military, fascinated by ‘Granny’s soldiers’ – as Diana said he called them – and was delighted when after bath time he and William were invited to come downstairs in their dressing gowns and tell ‘Mummy’s friend’ about their day’s adventures. But even more he wanted to know about what soldier Hewitt had to tell him about military matters. He had been ‘excited’ and ‘frightened’ in equal measure, Diana explained to Hewitt, when a cavalry colonel had bowed and yelled ‘Sir’ to him at the top of his voice.
Dining with a friend at the Tai Pai restaurant in Knightsbridge in late summer 1986, Diana had been bemoaning the fact that, having produced a second son, in the light of her loveless marriage she faced a stark choice: to enjoy some
It was the kind of scene Diana, in her more volatile moments, did her best to shield her sons from. She was aware that Harry’s screaming fits tended to follow her own low moments and that William was forced to calm his brother more and more.
Harry’s distress continued even when he was asleep and he regularly wet his bed as well as suffering dreadful nightmares, even though Diana often slipped into his bed to comfort him. She was all too familiar with what it was like for a young one to suffer marital disharmony: she had cried herself to sleep at a similar age when her own father, the 7th Earl Spencer’s son Johnnie, and her mother had screamed, shouted and even punched each other before heading for a bitter battle in the divorce court. Diana had found herself motherless after the then Viscountess Spencer lost custody of her and her siblings after her own mother, Lady Fermoy, sided with her son-in-law.
This was a situation Charles simply could not understand: how could he? If and when his own mother and her consort ever had disagreements they were never in front of the children.
As the rift between husband and wife grew wider, the rows got louder. When the Queen’s former press secretary, Michael Shea, said of the couple: ‘The only arguments they ever had were over the children,’ Charles was heard to retort, ‘Huh, the only arguments he was privy to, maybe.’
Diana did everything she could to compensate not just for the marital discord but also for the restrictions royal life necessarily placed upon her boys. There were trips to McDonald’s (something Charles disapproved of, saying, ‘I would never have been allowed to go to such places’), visits to the cinema (‘Why? There’s a perfectly good screen at BP and I can ensure you get any films you want’), sitting on Santa’s knee at Harrods (‘When the store was open to the public, for heaven’s sake? What were you thinking of?’) and excursions to theme parks where they could scream on thrill rides alongside the rest of the kids.
She could not, however, be with her boys when they were at school, but Ken Wharfe was and she relied on him to keep her up to speed with what went on, particularly with Harry at Mrs Mynors’ infant academy. He brought home stories of the mischievous son’s activities, which frequently had Diana curling up with laughter. There was the occasion when, during morning assembly, Harry persisted in tugging at the trousers worn by the piano-playing music master, Mr Pritchard. When the teacher finally lost his patience and demanded that Harrystopped pulling his trousers, the young Prince piped up, ‘But Mr Pritchard, I can see your willy.’
Wharfe was not the only man to arrive on the scene in 1986, for that was the year Diana met the man who was to change her life – and Harry’s: the dashing cavalry officer James Hewitt. It has to be said that Major Hewitt was an instant hit with her younger son. Although he still had his third birthday to come, the young Prince was already showing an interest in all things military, fascinated by ‘Granny’s soldiers’ – as Diana said he called them – and was delighted when after bath time he and William were invited to come downstairs in their dressing gowns and tell ‘Mummy’s friend’ about their day’s adventures. But even more he wanted to know about what soldier Hewitt had to tell him about military matters. He had been ‘excited’ and ‘frightened’ in equal measure, Diana explained to Hewitt, when a cavalry colonel had bowed and yelled ‘Sir’ to him at the top of his voice.
Dining with a friend at the Tai Pai restaurant in Knightsbridge in late summer 1986, Diana had been bemoaning the fact that, having produced a second son, in the light of her loveless marriage she faced a stark choice: to enjoy some
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