The Reason Diana Thought Harry Would Make a Better King Than William

Prince William has been set to inherit the British throne from birth, but Princess Diana thought her younger son would actually be better suited to the role.

PRINCE WILLIAM, Princess Diana, PRINCE CHARLES AND PRINCE HARRYShutterstock

Considering that he’s currently sixth in line for the British throne, behind his father, his brother William, and William’s three adorable children, it’s safe to say that Prince Harry will probably (and hopefully!) never get to be the king of England. But were the line of succession not a factor, would he make a good ruler? Harry’s own mother, the late Princess Diana, reportedly thought so—in fact, she thought he would actually be better suited to the throne than Prince William. Here are 9 more secrets no one knew about Diana until after her death.

In her 2018 biography Harry: Conversations with the Prince, Angela Levin delves into Harry’s relationship with his mother. According to Levin, as Diana’s sons grew up, she identified qualities in Harry that she thought would make him a good, willing ruler. Even though William was older, and, of course, the actual heir to the throne, she thought it was Harry who possessed more qualities that befitted a leader, including his “ability to cope,” “ease with people,” and “general gusto.” Any royal fanatic can definitely say that the charming, charismatic Harry has continued to display these qualities into adulthood, too! Reportedly, Diana even gave her younger son the nickname “Good King Harry.” Harry and his mother truly had a special relationship, as these rarely seen photos of the pair together prove.

As for William, Diana didn’t necessarily think he wasn’t suited to be king. But she did sense that her older son didn’t want the throne, so much so that she would “worry about” how he’d bear his future kingly burden. “William doesn’t want his every move watched,” Levin quotes Diana as saying.

Of course, though, this was when William was much younger, so will he make a good king when he inherits the throne one day? We probably won’t know for many years—he’ll never be king before Prince Charles, after all. As for Harry, perhaps the unlikelihood of him becoming king is actually for the best because he has admitted that he doesn’t want the throne. And, of course, there’s a lot more to him than his royal blood, like these 15 things you never knew about the prince.

Meghan Jones
Meghan Jones is a word nerd who has been writing for RD.com since 2017. You can find her byline on pieces about grammar, fun facts, the meanings of various head-scratching words and phrases, and more. Meghan graduated from Marist College with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2017; her creative nonfiction piece “Anticipation” was published in the Spring 2017 issue of Angles literary magazine.