Prince William Once Joked Princess Diana Would Have Been a "Nightmare" Grandmother

See what the royal had to say about his late mother

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have welcomed their first child.

The Palace announced on Monday that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have welcomed a baby boy.

"Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex was safely delivered of a son at 0526 hrs. The baby weighs 7lbs 3 oz," the Palace stated. "The Duke was present for the birth. The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Lady Jane Fellowes, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Earl Spencer have been informed and are delighted with the news. The Duchess's mother, Doria Ragland, who is overjoyed by the arrival of her first grandchild, is with Their Royal Highnesses at Frogmore Cottage. Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well." 

Of course, the proud father was thrilled.

"I'm very excited to announce that Meghan and myself had a baby boy this morning, a very healthy baby boy," Harry said in his first public appearance since the birth. "Mother and baby are doing incredibly well. It's been the most amazing experience I can ever possibly imagine. How any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension but we're both absolutely thrilled and so grateful for all the love and support from everybody out there. It's been amazing so we just wanted to share this with everybody."

He also said the parents are "still thinking" about names.

The announcement came shortly after the Palace announced the royal had gone into labor. Many suspected Meghan had been overdue. Still, royal admirers also had a feeling the baby's arrival was near after the Duke of Sussex postponed his scheduled trip to Amsterdam. However, the royals have primarily kept their plans surrounding the birth in secret.  

 

"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very grateful for the goodwill they have received from people throughout the United Kingdom and around the world as they prepare to welcome their baby," the Palace stated at the time. "Their Royal Highnesses have taken a personal decision to keep the plans around the arrival of their baby private. The Duke and Duchess look forward to sharing the exciting news with everyone once they have had an opportunity to celebrate privately as a new family."

 

While this is an exciting time for the couple, sadly, their child will never meet their paternal grandmother, Princess Diana—a reality that Harry and his brother, Prince William, have spoken about before.

 

In 2017's Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, William said he is "constantly talking about Granny Diana" with his and Kate Middleton's eldest kids, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. This August will mark the 22nd anniversary of the death of Diana, who passed away in a car accident on Aug. 31, 1997.

 

"We've got more photos up round the house now of her and we talk about her a bit and stuff. It's hard, because obviously Catherine didn't know her, so she cannot really provide that, that level of detail. So, I do regularly when putting George or Charlotte to bed, talk about her and just try and remind them that there are two grandmothers—there were two grandmothers—in their lives," William said. "So, it's important that they know who she was and that she existed."

Diana might have liked her grandchildren a little too much, he joked. "She'd be a nightmare grandmother—absolute nightmare. She'd love the children to bits, but she'd be an absolute nightmare," he said. "She'd come and go and she'd come in probably at bath time, cause an amazing amount of scene, bubbles everywhere, bathwater all over the place, and then leave."

Though two decades have passed, William still feels closely connected to Diana. "They always live with you, people you lose like that," he said. "My mother lives with me every day."

William spoke about how Diana gave him a sense of normalcy normally not afforded to members of the royal family—something he and Kate are doing with their own children. "She understood there was a real life outside the palace walls," he said, mentioning some of her numerous philanthropic efforts. "She wanted us to see it from a very young age."

In the documentary, William and Harry shared never-before-seen family photos and open up about Diana's life inside the palace walls. For the most part, the two brothers had a happy early childhood. In fact, William only ever remembers seeing his mom cry over stories in the media. "Harry and I lived through that, and one lesson I've learned is you never let [the media] in too far, because it's very difficult to get them back out again. You've got to maintain a barrier and a boundary," William argued, "because if both sides cross it, a lot of pain can come from it."

Following the Harry and Meghan's engagement announcement in Nov. 2017, the couple sat down for an interview, during which Harry said that his late mother and Meghan would've been "best friends."

"Oh they'd be thick as thieves, without question, I think she would be over the moon, jumping up and down, you know so excited for me, but then, as I said, would have probably been best friends - best friends with Meghan," he said. "So no it's - you know it is days like - days like today when - when I really miss having her around and miss being able to share the happy news. But you know with the ring and with everything else that's going on I'm sure she's…"

"...She's with us," Markle said.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also honored his late mother at their royal wedding in May 2018. All of Diana's siblings were in attendance at the wedding, where Lady Jane Fellowes gave a reading. Harry and Meghan also remembered his mother with the bridal bouquet. For the bouquet, the couple chose Diana's favorite flower, forget-me-nots. The Palace also shared that, a day before the wedding, Harry hand-picked flowers from their private garden at Kensington Palace for the ceremony.