Stoical 15-year-old Prince William hid his grief over Diana’s death

Following the horrific death of his mother, Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris in 1997, teen Prince William kept a stoical face not displaying his feelings in public in order to “protect himself,” claims a new book by author Penny Junor.

Prince William and Harry Mourn Princess Diana

Photo: Adam Butler/WPARota/The Canadian Press

Barely 15-years of age, when Princess Diana was killed in a road accident, Prince William turned to his younger sibling Prince Harry for solace instead of openly shedding tears in public as he has "the Windsor ability to keep his emotions hidden", opines Junor in the book.

The new biography 'Prince William: Born To Be King' by British author Penny Junor draws on the recollections of Sandy Henney, Prince Charles' press secretary. At the time of his mother's funeral, Penny Junor writes in the new biography "William, who has the Windsor ability to keep his emotions hidden, appeared to be remarkably controlled."

Also according to Junor, at 15, William being a teenager was neither a young lad nor a grown up man. It was a very difficult age. “He didn't speak to Sandy about his feelings, and she never saw a tear; he appeared to internalise his grief, just as he'd internalised so much in his life already,” states the author in the book.

Speaking about the Duke of Cambridge, now 29, Henney said: "I think he has an innate sense of self-protection. If you ask him a personal question, he will be as honest as he wants to be, but you will never get down into the real root of William because that’s how he protects himself," reported the 'Daily Mail.'

Prince William, Harry and

Charles at Diana’s funeral.

Photo: The Canadian Press

But one point completely missed out by the author as also the press secretary is the fact that Prince William (like his late mother) is a true Cancer, who are known to be deeply private and secretive. No one can pry anything out of them which they don’t want to say. The more any one tries to ferret information out of them, more they will withdraw into their shell, a typical Cancerian trait. But being highly sensitive most certainly Prince William must be grieving deeply from inside for his mother.

The silver lining (probably) being that the grief shared brought the two brothers - William and Harry - brought them closer to one another, claims the book. The Queen too seems to have filled a void, as Prince William also grew much closer to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, following Princess Diana's death.

"He (the Duke) visited the Queen weekly at Windsor Castle, which was just over the bridge from Eton; indeed, he became particularly close to her during this period. But what probably helped the boys more than anything was having each other," the author writes. No doubt if you check any speech given by Prince Harry, the doting younger brother has at least one reference to his elder brother Prince William.

Source: Business Standard.com

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