Queen Elizabeth ‘Never Criticized’ Princess Diana But Didn’t Understand Prince Charles’ Wife

During and after Princess Diana’s marriage to Prince Charles she was adored by royal fans around the world. Along with her iconic fashion choices, she had a certain level of compassion that resonated with commoners.

As Diana garnered the admiration of the public, Queen Elizabeth couldn’t understand how Prince Charles’ wife was able to connect with people in a way that members of the royal family never could.

In the book, “The Firm,” Penny Junor revealed how Queen Elizabeth felt about Diana and her unorthodox choices. “The public loved Diana for all sorts of reason, but not least because people felt she was in tune with them,” the royal biographer wrote.

“She connected with the public in a way they liked. It wasn’t the royal way.”

During royal visits and events, the Princess of Wales would often show kindness to those she encountered. When Junor spoke with the Royal Family’s private secretaries, who interacted with Diana, she learned Queen Elizabeth didn’t speak ill of Diana despite their differences.

“There was an acceptance she was very popular. I never heard the Queen criticize Diana. But, there was almost a sense of bafflement, and a feeling that this wasn’t the style of the rest of the family,” Junor explained.

“The Queen had a very strong, admirable sense herself of the need to be herself and not be something different,” she added.

Prince Philip appeared to echo his wife’s sentiments and agreed they couldn’t follow in Princess Diana’s footsteps.

“The Duke of Edinburgh will say, ‘We are not here to electioneer, to tout for short-term popularity,’ and there was an understanding that they couldn’t adopt Diana’s style and pretend to be the kind of people they weren’t,” the author revealed.

“But working out how they could be themselves and yet do somewhat different things and how interest in somewhat different things, was something they needed a lot of help with.”

Although Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip couldn’t imitate Princess Diana, she passed her compassion down to her sons. Prince William and Prince Harry are often applauded for the same humble behavior their mother was once praised for.