Princess Diana’s Butler Explains How a Nanny Made Prince Harry Feel Less Important Than Prince William When They Were Kids
Many people from Prince Harry‘s past were brought up in his memoir Spare including his mother Princess Diana‘s former butler Paul Burrell.
Burrell, who worked for the princess from 1987 until her tragic death in 1997, has revealed what he saw another member of the royal household do when Harry and Prince William were children that made the younger prince feel less important than his older brother.
What Princess Diana’s butler saw when a nanny served William and Harry breakfast
Burrell became a royal family employee when he was 18. He was one of Queen Elizabeth II’s personal footmen until he joined Princess Diana’s staff as her personal butler. Burrell has shared many fond memories of William and Harry when they were children but recently recalled what he saw one of the boys’ nannies do when serving them breakfast.
“One time I saw the nanny give William three sausages at breakfast and Harry had two,” Burrell told The Sun. “And Harry would look at his plate and say, ‘How come he gets three? And I only get two?’”
According to Burrell, the nanny replied: “William needs filling up more than you. He’s going to be king one day.”
The former butler added: “Harry would fall quiet and suck it up, but that’s what he had to contend with, even in his own home … When I look back now, I think maybe I was glimpsing the dynamic at play.”
Burrell said Prince Harry was also compared to Prince William in school
While Burrell also witnessed a strong bond and closeness between the brothers he now believes that instances of how other people acted may have contributed to the Duke of Sussex’s “resentment” toward Prince William.
Burrell stressed that Diana always treated her children as equals saying: “In their mother’s eyes, they were absolutely equal. The princess doted on them both. But I can see that Harry found it tough living up to the standard set by William.”
Burrell added that when they attended school Harry was often compared to his sibling explaining: “William was brighter than Harry and would be king one day. How can you compete with that?”
What Diana’s former butler thinks Prince Harry needs to do now
Burrell claimed that the way Harry tackled the issues of being made to feel like second best when they were kids was to act out and be the louder, more boisterous child.
The ex-royal butler remembered that “William would be measured and stoic and sort of take everything in. But not Harry. He would have to be the clown, he had to be noticed. And often I’d hear the princess shout across the room, ‘Shhhh, Harry, be quiet.’”
“I’ve heard those words in the last few days. Harry needs to be quiet, he needs to pipe down. I don’t recognize him anymore,” Burrell admitted. “He’s clearly hurt and angry at being ‘the spare’ and so he’s lashing out from that place.”
Prince Harry did not spare Burrell in his memoir. The Duke of Sussex wrote that it made his “blood boil” when his mother’s former employee released his own book and he accused Burrell of “milking” Diana’s death for money.
