Prince William Rejects Multiple Diana Documentary Offers as Harry Explores His Own Tribute
Prince William has rejected multiple offers to participate in or produce documentaries about Princess Diana ahead her 30th death anniversary as Prince Harry separately explores possible projects to honour their late mother.
The Prince of Wales is understood to be particularly concerned about creating a situation in which the estranged brothers are portrayed as competing over Diana’s legacy through rival documentaries or anniversary tributes.
William was just 15 when Diana died following a car crash in Paris in August 1997, and those close to him say the approaching milestone remains deeply emotional.
Sources have described the anniversary as a “difficult situation for him,” suggesting William has little appetite for another public examination of his grief nearly three decades after losing his mother.
The future King reportedly considers the documentaries he participated in for the 20th anniversary in 2017 to have provided a “final catharsis,” allowing him to speak publicly about Diana in a way he does not wish to repeat.
During a Kensington Palace screening of ITV’s Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy that year, William made his intentions particularly clear, telling guests: “We won’t speak as openly about her again.”
In the documentary, William described his mother’s death as being “like an earthquake” and revealed that hardly a day passed without him thinking about her.
Now 44, William has reportedly not decided exactly how he will commemorate the 30th anniversary, although friends expect any acknowledgement to be more private rather than a major television production.
Harry, meanwhile, appears to be considering a different approach. Sources close to the Duke of Sussex confirmed last week that he has been exploring “a number of possible projects” to mark Diana’s anniversary “in the most meaningful way.”
A documentary is believed to be among the possibilities, with Netflix potentially involved because of its existing relationship with Harry and Meghan Markle. No project has yet been formally announced.
Their uncle Earl Spencer added further intrigue in his memoir Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, revealing that Harry had approached him about participating in a documentary concerning Diana.
Spencer’s book has reportedly complicated matters for William, who is understood to have received little advance warning about a memoir containing controversial allegations involving King Charles and other members of the Royal Family.
William and Harry once approached their mother’s legacy together. They participated in BBC and ITV documentaries for the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death in 2017, when Harry recalled how their mother had “smothered us with love.”
Their last major joint public tribute came in July 2021, when they unveiled Diana’s statue at Kensington Palace. With their relationship subsequently remaining deeply strained, William’s decision to reject new documentary proposals appears intended to avoid turning their mother’s 30th anniversary into another source of competition, even as Harry considers his own way of remembering her.
