Royal expert reveals what Her Majesty the Queen thought about late Diana's parenting

Her views have been uncovered in an interview, so what did she really think?

The Queen, Queen Mum and Princess Diana
(Image credit: PA)
  • For many years its been claimed the Queen and the late Princess Diana didn't get along but a Royal biographer has put it down to Her Majesty keeping quiet over the way Prince William and Harry was being raised.
  • Sarah Bradford, Viscountess Bangor, explained this "coldness" was actually politeness.
  • It's claimed the Queen and Diana had different ideas of how to raise children but she wanted to hold back.

Biographer Sarah Bradford explained what was going through the Queen's mind during one visit of Princess Diana and her sons Prince William and Harry.

She recalled in an interview with Daily Mail last year, 'I remember one courtier describing the Queen as ‘frigid’ when Diana and the boys came to tea. I understand what he was trying to say, but it wasn’t so much frigidity as shyness. She was holding back because their ideas on bringing up children were different,'

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She also gave an example where Prince William’s nanny was on holiday and Diana insisted on looking after him - which caused some confusion to Queen Elizabeth.

'The Queen was surprised and said, "I don’t understand why Diana has to do this; there are millions of housemaids around",' she recalled.

Why are the Queen and Diana different?

There is no denying the Queen and Diana grew up differently - with the Queen used to having staff around to take care of things, whereas Diana was used to being and preferred to be hands on with her boys and this is something which appears to have rubbed off on her son Prince William who has sons Prince George, six, and Louis, two and daughter Charlotte, five with wife Kate.

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Kate previously explained her mum guilt over not being on every school run, she said, 'There's such a pull,' Middleton said, 'But I am such a hands-on mom, and whatever you're doing you want to make sure you're doing the uttermost best job you can for your children.'

Selina Maycock
Senior Family Writer

Selina is a Senior Family Writer for GoodtoKnow and has more than 16 years years of experience. She specialises in royal family news, including the latest activities of Prince George, Charlotte, Louis, Archie and Lilibet. She also covers the latest government, health and charity advice for families. Selina graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2006 with a degree in Journalism, and gained her NCTJ and NCE qualifications. During her career, she’s also written for Woman, Woman's Own, Woman&Home, and Woman's Weekly as well as Heat magazine, Bang Showbiz - and the Scunthorpe Telegraph. When she's not covering family news, you can find her exploring new countryside walking routes, catching up with friends over good food, or making memories (including award-winning scarecrows!)