Intimate letter from Princess Diana reveals what Prince William’s relationship with Harry was really like before fallout
The handwritten letter from the then Princess of Wales gave an insight into the sweet relationship between the brothers during their childhoods.
Addressed to the late royal’s parents’ housekeeper Violet Collison (affectionately known as Collie by the Princess), the sweet note has fetched nearly ten times its estimated worth at auction.
The letter went under the hammer in July last year by Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers and was originally predicted to sell for a whopping £1,200.
But the lovely message, which showed moving insights into the relationship between Prince Harry, 40, and Prince William, 42, sold for a staggering £10,000.
The auctioneers described the note as: ‘A handwritten two-page letter dated September 25th 1984, on crowned “D” Kensington Palace notepaper, to “Collie” thanking her for Prince Harry’s first Christmas present’.
Violet, also known as Collie, was head housekeeper to John Spencer and Frances Roche at Park House on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, where Diana spent her childhood years.
The letter read: “It was so very kind of you to have given such a lovely present to Harry – we were enormously touched.”
Diana then praised the “thought” behind the gift and claimed that she “cannot thank you enough for the bibs.”
In the same letter, Diana noted that “William adores his little brother & spends the entire time pouring an endless supply of hugs & kisses over Harry”.
Diana described the display as “wonderful to watch, if we’re allowed near!” demonstrating the inseparable bond between the two young royals.
But the depiction of a tactile and loving relationship between William and his younger brother is a far cry from their now famously frosty connection.
In his book, Spare, which hit shelves in January 2023, Prince Harry went as far to call William his ‘archnemesis’.
The dad-of-two also said they have always ‘competed’ and detailed physical altercations between the pair.
It is believed the trigger that caused the rift to develop between William and Harry was when the then Duke of Cambridge advised his younger sibling to ‘take things slow’ when he first began dating Suits star Meghan Markle, 43, in 2017.
Not only this, but relations became so sour that they reportedly didn’t talk for weeks after Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018, where William was best man.
This was then followed by Harry and Meghan’s decision to step down as senior royals in 2020 – informally known as Megxit – and the way it was handled reportedly left William and King Charles, 76, devastated.
William adores his little brother & spends the entire time pouring an endless supply of hugs & kisses over Harry
Princess Diana
In the documentary – Harry & Meghan: An African Journey – the Duke of Sussex admitted he and William are ‘certainly on different paths at the moment’.
Despite this, he told ITV’s Tom Bradby: “Inevitably stuff happens. But we’re brothers, we’ll always be brothers.”
As well as this, a source previously told People that the brothers’ relationship is “forever changed” and they “won’t get back to the way they were”.
Diana’s correspondence, which was auctioned by Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex, revealed that former housekeeper Collie remained in Diana’s thoughts throughout her life.
Most of the letters to Collie are thank you notes for birthday and Christmas presents given to Diana and her children, but these notes often include a line or two about Diana’s life at the time.
One double-sided letter in the collection – penned on Buckingham Palace headed notepaper and dated just three weeks before Charles and Diana’s wedding in 1981 – was expected to fetch £1,200.
It read: “Everyone frantically busy here doing last minute decorations on the house and things like that.
“Family all far too excited and, at the moment, the bride to be has remained quite calm!”
Meanwhile, one sweet letter on Kensington Palace paper with a ‘CD’ logo for Charles and Diana, saw the late Princess thanking Collie for gifts sent to her young sons.
It said: “William found the parcels and dived into the paper before I could stop him.”
After the marriage of Diana’s parents ended, Collie followed Diana’s mother to London in 1967, working for her and her new husband until her retirement in 1973.
She remained close to Frances and the Spencer children until her death at the age of 89 in 2013.
Luke Macdonald, head of art and estates at Sworders, said: “Violet Collison, Collie, was Diana’s parents’ housekeeper when they lived at Park House. She knew Diana from when she was born and remained a constant in her life.
“At all points she would try to return to see Collie. When she stayed at Sandringham she would escape to see Collie without her security.”
He expressed that they offer a “lovely chapter in the history of Diana” and added: “She was one of her closest confidantes.
What is special about these is they tell a story, they are not just somebody’s collection
Luke Macdonald
“They give a nice insight – before the wedding she describes everyone being frantically busy but the bride-to-be staying calm and there are letters about William and Harry that are really sweet.
“Collie died in 2013 and the family has decided now is the time to sell them as they are just living in a box and not being enjoyed, there are too many family members to divide them up.
“They have spoken to Diana’s sisters to make sure they were okay with them selling.”
Luke recognised that the letters “tell a story”, as he added: “What is special about these is they tell a story, they are not just somebody’s collection. From the first Christmas card to the last, they are a complete story of her friendship and relationship with Diana.
“Everyone wants a little part of Diana, she connected with people and was very much the people’s princess.”
The collection of more than a dozen letters and cards sold for a total of £51,850 (including buyer’s premium) as part of the Out of the Ordinary Sale on July 30 2014.
