Most parents avoid showing favoritism towards a child, even if it exists, but again, most parents are not raising the future King of the United Kingdom. Prince Charles and Princess Diana faced a unique set of challenges in raising Prince William and Prince Harry. Especially considering how the royals conspired against his intentions to give their children the same treatment.
Members of the royal family could not understand why Diana especially showered Harry with the same attention paid to William. After all, he was just the “spare heir”. Reports claim that these high-ranking royals provided William with preferential treatment that was disastrous for young Harry.
Prince Charles wanted Prince Harry to be a girl
The problem started when Prince Harry was born. Because he already had a son, Prince Charles reacted to the birth of a second male heir by saying, “Oh, God, he’s a boy.” Later, he apparently said to Princess Diana’s mother, “We were very disappointed, we thought it would be a girl.”
Charles also expressed dismay that his new son had a trait from the Spencer family. The Prince of Wales said, “And he even has red hair!” Diana later pointed to Harry’s birth as a major turning point in the fall of her marriage to Charles.
Princess Diana wanted her children to be treated equally, but the family disagreed.
RELATED: The First Thing Prince Harry Needed Most From His Mother Princess Diana
The Princess of Wales clashed with the royal family on a variety of issues. The way she chose to raise her children, including showing them life beyond the Palace walls and dealing with them with McDonald’s, was just another source of conflict.
Diana tried to give William and Harry the same deal. However, the documentary Prince Harry: The Troubled Prince explains how his attempts met with opposition from high-ranking royalty, The Sun reported.
“Prince Charles shared Diana’s concerns about making sure children shared things in their early years,” journalist Richard Kay said in the documentary.
“But certainly, the oldest members of the royal family in private said: ‘This doesn’t make sense. William is the future. All our efforts should go to educate William. William the Queen would invite royalty classes when he was at Eton and she was at Windsor Castle.
The Queen Mother showed especially favoritism towards William
Queen Elizabeth’s mother, whose name was also Elizabeth, is known for offering affection and love to Prince Charles during childhood, when his own mother neglected him. But supposedly the Queen Mother did not extend the same feelings to Prince Harry.
“He was always less than his brother,” explained royal biographer Angela Lewin. “The late Queen Mother always invited Prince William to tea and talked to her about her future and did not invite Prince Harry.”
Journalist Richard Kay supported the claim and said: “The Queen Mother always made sure that Prince William was sitting in a prominent seat next to her and Harry never was.”
Prince Harry had to forge his own path.
Even before he married Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry was making headlines as he tried to discover his life. He went through a rebellious stage in youth that culminated in scandalous photos circulating of the prince celebrating naked in Las Vegas. Now the Duke of Sussex is involved in a completely different kind of rebellion, after all, but he quits the royal family and moves to the United States with his wife and son.
Unlike his older brother, Harry never had his destiny set for him. “I think being the replacement for the heir is a role that has inherent problems,” said real expert Katie Nicholl.
“The role of Prince William has always been defined. What you are going to do has always been clearly outlined. Harry, as historically spared in the royal family, has had to find a role for himself. “
It looks like he’s doing exactly that.