The Surprising Way Prince William and Prince Harry Were Protected From Stories About Their Parents’ Divorce
Prince William and Prince Harry were exposed to the spotlight from a young age. The two brothers’ parents, King Charles and the late Princess Diana, didn’t always have the happiest marriage — and when news broke of Charles’ affair and later the couple’s divorce, Harry and William were often front and center despite their young age.
Surprisingly, one aspect of the boys’ lives played a big role in trying to protect from the media attention surrounding their parents’ divorce.
Prince William and Prince Harry’s school largely tried to help shield them from the news
When Charles and Diana were divorcing, William and Harry were both attending the same school. At the time, they were enrolled in Ludgrove School, which took steps to help the boys steer clear of the press and what was going on in the news.
Royal expert Dick Arbiter told Express, “Ludgrove was extremely good at protecting him [William] and later Harry. It took them out of troubled waters.”
Plenty of news broke about Charles and Diana’s relationship during the time they were separated and later going through the divorce, and Arbiter said that the Ludgrove School’s headmaster worked hard — and even made it his “mission” — to make sure the boys could see the school as a safe space and somewhere where they would not be exposed to the realities of what was being covered in the news.
William and Harry were both young when their parents decided to divorce, and situations like that can have strong impacts on young children. The boys’ school wanted to make sure the two could keep as normal of lives as possible despite having all eyes on them while their parents were working out the end of the marriage.
Prince William and Prince Harry have likely learned from their parents’ marriage
At the time that Charles and Diana’s marriage ended, Harry and William were just young boys. However, as they’ve grown older, they’ve likely learned more about what happened between their parents — and have worked hard not to repeat those same mistakes.
William and Harry both went on to marry and have children of their own. William married Kate Middleton in 2011 while Harry married Meghan Markle in 2018. Harry has spoken out about his parents’ divorce regarding his marriage to Meghan Markle, who also comes from divorced parents. “What’s most important, for the two of us, is to make sure we don’t repeat the same mistakes that perhaps our parents made,” Harry said in the couple’s Netflix documentary.
William and Kate have taken steps to raise their children differently than how William and Harry were raised. Despite being heirs to the throne, the kids live a very private life, and William and Kate even moved their family out of Kensington Palace to escape the fanfare of royal life. Both brothers have been picky about where their kids attend school, and Meghan Markle once revealed that she picks Archie up from school each day in order to maintain as much normalcy in his life as possible.
