Prince William plans to skip the Diana Awards ceremony next month

At this point, I think the Diana Awards are the only charity/patronage which count both Prince Harry and Prince William as patrons. Both brothers host and attend events around the Diana Awards, which provide “awards” to outstanding young people doing good work, usually in charitable sectors. In recent years, William has attended the Diana Awards ceremony in person, while Harry zooms in later, after his brother has left. Harry has also hosted Diana Awards recipients in New York, and he’s done videos and Q&A sessions as well. I’ve always gotten the impression that Harry is much more engaged with the patronage and he spends more time learning about the winners and trying to platform their work. While William just staggers through one or two events a year. Well, Tom Sykes has an exclusive: William isn’t planning to attend this year’s Diana Awards ceremony.

Well, I can now exclusively reveal that Prince William is not planning to attend this year’s Diana Awards, which are being held at a fancy London hotel next month, potentially leaving the path clear for Harry to anoint himself the standard-bearer of his mother’s legacy.

Harry’s side declined to comment, but sources in his camp certainly seemed interested in my revelation. I have put in a request for comment to William’s side but, given that they stopped responding to me on about 99 percent of stories when the King’s chief comms officer kicked me out of the palace WhatsApp group about a year or so ago, I’m not holding my breath.

The date of the IRL aspect of the Diana Awards, which is not exactly a secret but is not being widely publicized yet, falls right in the middle of the big week in which Harry will be undertaking a raft of public engagements, especially around the WellChild Awards and Invictus. It would seem extraordinary to me if Harry did not attend, given that he has attended by video link in previous years. Indeed, you may remember that in 2024, so keen were both brothers to be associated with the event that William delivered a speech in person at the ceremony at the Science Museum, while Harry participated via video link from Montecito after his brother had departed.

To be clear: I am not being told that William’s absence is a reaction to Harry’s arrival. He simply wasn’t going to go, presumably because he has other plans. But we know there has been criticism of the Waleses for not doing enough, and one thing you are certainly going to see is William and Kate being forced to do more, and to be far more visible. Morton even argues that the return of Harry could, paradoxically, be the making of William, forcing him to get out there and raise his profile with Catherine.

This event highlights William’s problem if he keeps refusing to meet Harry. Harry can simply say, “I’m completely happy to reconcile with my brother,” show up at the Diana Awards, or any other event, and put William in an impossible position. Because if William attends and Harry walks up, says, “Hello, brother,” and sticks his hand out, William is going to have to shake it, and he doesn’t want to do that. Personally, I think the time will come when, for purely strategic reasons, he is going to have to, because fostering the public resentment hands Harry the power to dictate William’s movements! William’s life is going to be severely curtailed if Harry is roaming around the UK and he has to avoid him at all costs. The best William can do is to stage the handshake with Harry in a way he can control; otherwise, he is handing extraordinary control to his brother.

[From The Royalist Substack]

I believe Sykes when he suggests that William wasn’t planning to attend the Diana Awards before William even heard about the Sussex Return. That sounds like William – always eager to not do anything at all, always willing to leave his patronages in the lurch. It also sounds typical of William to refuse to change course about it now that Harry will likely be on hand, in person, at the event. It would be a perfect opportunity for the brothers to at least see each other on semi-neutral ground, for a charity named after their mother. You can always count on William to miss every opportunity though.

As for the larger discussion about Harry’s ownership of his mother’s legacy… one could even argue that Harry’s similarities to Diana are a big part of the reason why the Windsors have treated him so poorly throughout his life. It wasn’t just that he was the spare – it’s that he is his mother’s son in every way. I’ve always thought that was (partially) why Charles has treated Harry with such carelessness too – because Charles has always seen Harry as an extension of Diana, moreso than William. William just isn’t like Diana at all at this point. Maybe William was like Diana when he was kid, but he became the monarchy’s creature over time.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid. Screencap from Diana Awards video.

: The Duke of Cambridge (right) and the Duke of Sussex during the unveiling of a statue they commissioned of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday.,Image: 619146815, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Dominic Lipinski / Avalon

: FILE PHOTOS: As the 20th Anniversary of the death of Princess Diana approaches (31st August 2017), Cover Images take a look at these re-digitized images from the archives of celebrated British Photographer, Mauro Carraro. Approximate date of images is shown in caption below. August 1987 Princess Diana with Prince Harry on holiday with teh Spanish Royal family in Majorca,Image: 347670758, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: ***Not Available for Subscription Clients***Editorial Use Only. No stock, books, advertising or merchandising without photographer’s permission***, Model Release: no

: The Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex arrive for the unveiling of a statue they commissioned of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday. Picture date: Thursday July 1, 2021. .,Image: 619024551, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon

: (left to right) Guy Monson, a member of the statue committee, the Duke of Sussex, the Duke of Cambridge and garden designer Pip Morrison, during the unveiling of a statue they commissioned of the Dukes’ mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday. Picture date: Thursday July 1, 2021. .,Image: 619024558, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon

: (left to right) The Duke of Sussex, the Duke of Cambridge and garden designer Pip Morrison, during the unveiling of a statue they commissioned of the Dukes’ mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday. Picture date: Thursday July 1, 2021. .,Image: 619024585, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon

: The Duke of Cambridge (left) and Duke of Sussex look at a statue they commissioned of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday. Picture date: Thursday July 1, 2021. .,Image: 619024624, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon

: The Duke of Cambridge (left) and Duke of Sussex unveiling a statue they commissioned of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday. Picture date: Thursday July 1, 2021. .,Image: 619024903, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon

: The Duke of Cambridge (right) and the Duke of Sussex during the unveiling of a statue they commissioned of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday. Picture date: Thursday July 1, 2021.,Image: 619146819, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon

: The Duke of Sussex during the unveiling of a statue commissioned of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday. Picture date: Thursday July 1, 2021.,Image: 619146822, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon

: The Duke of Sussex during the unveiling of a statue commissioned of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday.,Image: 619146823, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Dominic Lipinski / Avalon