On his 11th birthday, Prince George celebrated a wonderful tradition started by the late Princess Diana that was probably not in line with royal etiquette.
On the anniversary of her tragic death, Diana’s influence on her family to try new things continues to resonate today.
Royal biographer Robert Lacey noted that the parents, Prince William and Kate Middleton, tried to give their children a “normal” upbringing, but they may have adopted this from the beliefs of the princess herself.
Her death was a tragic event that shocked the world when she died and suffered serious injuries as a result of a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997.
Princess Diana died tragically in 1997. (Getty Stock Images)
The “People’s Princess” was in the car with her alleged boyfriend Dodi Fayed, Diana’s driver Henri Paul and Dodi’s bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones as they drove through the Pont de l’Alma underpass.
However, when paparazzi harassed the car and urged him to drive away at high speed, the driver reportedly lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a pillar in the tunnel, killing both him and Dodi instantly.
Diana and her bodyguard were barely alive when fire and rescue services arrived and a firefighter unknowingly heard her last words: “Oh my God, what happened?”
Her death shocked the nation and the world. She mourned for weeks and continues to think of her in the years that followed.
But her sons have famously tried to live a life in ode to their mother, and Lacey wrote in his 2021 book Battle of the brothers: “William’s aim as a father, the prince stressed, was to give his son ‘a normal family upbringing’ so that the monarchy ‘remains relevant and keeps pace with modern times’.”
It seems that this has been extended to birthday parties as well.
Julia Samuel, one of Princess Diana’s best friends and godmother to Prince George, spoke openly about how the family keeps its traditions alive.
Speech in a podcast episode How to Fail with Elizabeth Day In 2020, Samuel shared memories of her friend on Diana’s 59th birthday.
She said: “I’m doing to George what (Princess Diana) did to us, which is giving him impossible toys that are really loud and take a long time to make.”
She continued: “William then has to spend days putting it together. And then putting all the machinery together, and it makes horrible beeping noises and lights flashing and all that.”
Prince William and Prince Harry try to live their lives as an ode to their mother. (Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)
She added: “It makes George laugh.”
She noted that Prince George was “incredible,” and although Diana heartbreakingly never had the opportunity to meet her grandchildren, she expressed her belief that she would have adored them.
She said: “He’s funny and feisty and cheeky and God, she (Diana) would have loved him so much. This is heartbreaking for all of them.”
Prince William appeared in the 2017 documentary Diana, our mother: her life and legacyand gave further insight into his style of parenting while keeping his mother’s spirit alive.
Prince George will continue to enjoy his noisy toys next year. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
He said: “We’ve got more photos of her hanging around the house now and we talk a bit about her and stuff. And it’s difficult because Catherine obviously didn’t know her, so she can’t really give that many details.”
“When I put George or Charlotte to bed, I talk about them regularly and try to remind them that there are two grandmothers, that there were two grandmothers in their lives. And that’s why it’s important that they know who she was and that she existed.”
He joked: “She would be a nightmare grandmother, an absolute nightmare! She would love the children more than anything, but… She would probably come in at bath time, make an unbelievable scene, foam everywhere, bath water everywhere – and then leave again.”
