The Royal Story The Royal Story
Fifteen years after their spectacular royal wedding captivated audiences around the globe, Princess Diana and King Charles officially ended their marriage in August 1996. Prince William was just 14 at the time, while his younger brother, Prince Harry, was 11.
Following the divorce, Diana retained the title Diana, Princess of Wales, but she no longer held the prestigious HRH style. According to accounts from the period, the change caused her considerable distress, prompting her eldest son to try to comfort her.
Royal expert Ingrid Seward revisits the emotional exchange in Catherine & Diana, citing former royal butler Paul Burrell’s recollection of William’s attempt to reassure his mother.
“She didn’t have her HRH style, but former royal butler Paul Burrell recalled the moment when William, seeing his mother’s distress, offered the only reassurance he could: ‘Don’t worry, Mummy, I will give it back to you one day when I am king.”
According to the author, the sheer “innocence” behind William’s teenage promise deeply affected Diana. She is said to have “wept, knowing the gesture was both loving and futile”. Tragically, it became a promise her son would never have the opportunity to honour, as Diana died little more than a year later.
William’s attempt to reassure his mother reportedly meant a great deal to her during the difficult period following her divorce and the loss of her HRH style. In practical terms, however, it was also something he could potentially have restored once he became monarch.
The sovereign has the authority to grant or withdraw the HRH style. King Charles demonstrated that power last year when he signed Letters Patent removing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s remaining royal status.
Had Diana lived until William’s eventual accession to the throne, he therefore could have been in a position to restore her HRH style and fulfil the promise he made as a teenager. Whether she would still have wanted it by then can never be known.
However, Earl Spencer has alleged that Queen Elizabeth later offered to reinstate Diana’s HRH style following her death, an offer he claims he declined.
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In his controversial memoir Swan Song, Charles Spencer recalls being told that Queen Elizabeth was prepared to restore Princess Diana’s HRH style after her death.
Explaining why the issue carried such emotional significance, he writes: “She had been dreadfully hurt by the removal of that title as she exited her marriage. It had seemed so petty and vindictive. While she was no longer to be married to one future king, she would always be mother to another.”
After considering the proposal, Spencer says he “knew in [his] bones” how Diana would have regarded “this posthumous award” and ultimately decided to reject it.
The Earl later explains that he “had no doubt that the consolation prize was hollow, however well-meaning the Queen’s gesture”. From his perspective, Diana’s HRH style should never have been taken away in the first place, making its restoration after her death unnecessary.
Prince William has not publicly addressed the claims made in his uncle’s memoir. Buckingham Palace, however, issued a statement ahead of the book’s publication, saying: “His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
Diana is not the only member of the wider Royal Family associated with an HRH style that is no longer used. Prince Harry and Meghan, for example, stopped using theirs after stepping back from royal duties in 2020.
Technically, William could still choose to restore his mother’s HRH style after becoming King. Yet with decades having passed since the promise he reportedly made as a teenager, he may ultimately decide to commemorate Diana’s legacy in other ways during his future reign.
