Former Royal Butler Claims Prince Harry ‘Might Have Turned Out Differently’ if Princess Diana Was Able to Make Crucial Decision
Princess Diana’s former butler believes Prince Harry “might have turned out differently” if she “had her way” in a decision about his education. Harry attended Eton College like Prince William but this educational choice wasn’t his mother’s wish.
Princess Diana didn’t want Prince Harry to go to Eton College boarding school like Prince William
Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell revealed that Diana hoped Prince Harry wouldn’t attend the boarding school Eton College. According to the butler, “Harry might have turned out differently” if his mom had a say in the matter.
Speaking on behalf of Slingo, Burrell said, “Diana didn’t want Harry to follow in the wake of William because she knew he wasn’t as academic as William.”
He continued, “She knew he wasn’t as sharp as William, she knew he wasn’t as intellectual as William and she thought that Harry would be compared to his brother at school and she didn’t want him to suffer that.”
Burrell added, “She wanted him to go to a different school but she lost that battle to the [then-]Prince of Wales who insisted both his sons went to Eton. Had she had her way, Harry might have turned out differently.”
Prince William ‘was destined to go to Eton’
Burrell shared how the two brothers’ experiences at Eton were different. “Even going to school, Harry followed William’s trail,” the former butler said.
The butler noted, “Diana was acutely aware of that because when William was destined to go to Eton, there was no choice for William but Eton, granny had a say in that because every Sunday granny would say to me, ‘William’s coming round for tea with his policeman so put an extra cup and saucer on the table.'”
Burrell added, “She would teach him things in the Oak Room at Windsor which now he stands in as Prince of Wales. One day he will stand in that place as king and remember that little tea table with two places in front of the open fire where he would sit with his granny as she taught him about affairs of state which is quite incredible. So I’ve seen that development grow.”
Prince William didn’t want to interact with Harry at their school
In his memoir Spare, Harry wrote about his experience at Eton College. Harry recalled how his brother didn’t want to interact with him while they attended the school.
During an interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, Harry discussed some of the “sibling rivalry” between them. When they attended the same school, William told him, “Pretend we don’t know each other.”
The Duke of Sussex explained, “At the time it hurt. I couldn’t make sense of it. I was like, ‘What do you mean? We’re now at the same school. Like, I haven’t seen you for ages, now we get to hang out together.’ He’s like, ‘No, no, no, when we’re at school we don’t know each other.’”
Prince Harry added, “And I took that personally.”
