The Princess of Wales gave birth to William in 1982 and Harry in 1984. She was just 20 years old when she had the Duke of Cambridge. Journalist Katrine Ames wrote about how Diana would coordinate her royal duties to match their routine.
Ms Ames wrote in Newsweek Diana was “uncomfortable” being absent from Harry and William’s lives, despite her obligations as a working royal.
She said: “Diana was uncomfortable in the role of absentee parent but had to travel a great deal.
“Inevitably, she left her children with nannies—just as she herself and so many other well-to-do British children have been left—but she tried to arrange her schedule to match the boys’.
“In her official calendar, the princess had all the everyday details of her son’s utterly uneveryday lives marked in green ink.”
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Also in Newsweek, Ms Ames shared an anecdote highlighting her love for William and Harry.
She said: “Of all the images that have burned into the public memory, few are more incandescent than one from Toronto.
“As Harry and William approach, their mother rushes to meet them, her body canted forward, her arms flung wide, with a smile that would light the darkest heart.”
Paparazzi snapped Diana embracing her two sons during their Canada visit in 1991.
Harry, speaking in the documentary ‘Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy’, became emotional when reminiscing about the Princess.
He said: “She would just engulf you and squeeze you as tight as possible and being as short as I was then, there was no escape, you were there for as long as she wanted to hold you.
“Even talking about it now, I can feel the hugs that she used to give us. I miss that feeling, I miss having that mother to give you those hugs and that compassion that everyone needs.
“Behind closed doors, she was a very loving, caring mother and an incredibly funny person. I think she lived a lot of her life, especially in private, through us and I think that childish fun element really came out when she was spending time with us.”
William also said in a 2017 interview with Alastair Campbell, chief interviewer for GQ, he wishes Diana was still alive.
The Duke said: “One thing I can always say about my mother is she smothered Harry and me in love.
“Twenty years on I still feel the love she gave us and that is testament to her massive heart and her amazing ability to be a great mother.
He then added: “I would like to have had her advice. I would love her to have met Catherine and to have seen the children grow up.
“It makes me sad that she won’t, that they will never know her.”
