Princess Diana’s Best Friend Makes a Rare Comment About the Royal’s Untimely Death
Princess Diana‘s death shocked millions of people across the globe especially those closest to the royal like her best friend Julia Samuel. Twenty-five years after Diana died following a car crash in Paris, Samuel spoke about what it was like to grieve privately while others around the world were grieving so publicly.
Samuel also talked about Prince George, who is her godson, and what she thinks he inherited from the late princess.
When Samuel met Princess Diana
Samuel met the People’s Princess at a dinner in 1987.
She described their first meeting to the Daily Mail’s You Magazine and said they got along well right away. “We started laughing together. There was something about her and something about me that just worked,” Samuel told the publication.
She added they would see each other often and have lunch and go to the gym or cinema. Over the years they were photographed together in the royal box at Wimbledon and backstage during an Elton John concert.
Samuel spoke about being ‘angry’ following the princess’s death
Thousands of mourners took to the streets of London on Aug. 31, 1997, after hearing about the fatal crash that killed the Princess of Wales. In an interview with The Observer, Samuel opened up about how she felt and what it was like watching total strangers mourn her friend.
“I felt angry. I was angry that she died and shocked and I couldn’t really understand it all,” she recalled. “I mean, I understand it better now. I understand that people felt they really knew and loved her. But I still feel sad today.”
Samuel now works as a psychotherapist and grief counselor. She’s also the author of several books and was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2016 for her services to bereaved parents of babies.
She is still very close with Princess Diana’s two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, and applauded them for what they have done to champion grief and mental health in the public sphere. “I think both the princes have really turned the dial on talking about grief so honestly and also about mental health. But that was all theirs — completely off their own bats,” she said.
Samuel says Prince George has Diana’s sense of humor
Samuel is one of the godparents of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s oldest son.
“I feel lucky I was such a good friend of Princess Diana. And I really love my godson, George,” she gushed. “And it’s a lovely way of loving her.”
Samuel revealed that she thinks George inherited his grandmother‘s sense of humor saying: “He’s funny and feisty and cheeky and God, [Diana] would have loved him so much.”
