Summary
- Princess Diana's godchildren continue to maintain close ties with the Royal family, attending important events and even serving as godparents to the Princes' children.
- Despite rumors and conspiracy theories, there is no evidence to suggest that Prince Harry and Prince William had any role in their mother's godchildren receiving limited inheritance.
- The executors of Princess Diana's will ignored her "letter of wishes" that outlined her desire for her godchildren to receive a portion of her estate, causing controversy and outrage among the public.
Anytime the Royals are brought up these days, it seems like many media personalities obsess over Prince Harry and Prince William's relationship with each other. Those people have wanted to know things like when did the Princes start feuding and did their beloved mother think one of them would make a better king?
However, the Royal media hasn't always been solely focused on the idea that the Princes don't get along. In the past, there was attention paid to the nature of the Princes' relationship with Princess Diana's many godchildren.
Did Princess Diana Leave Anything To Her Godchildren?
Over the last several years, there have been many times when the masses grieved the passing of a beloved celebrity. A perfect example of that is even many people who are cynical about celebrities couldn't help but be upset when Robin Williams passed away.
As much as Williams' passing truly saddened many people, even that doesn't compare to how the world reacted when Princess Diana took her final breath. Once known as "The People's Princess", the connection many fans felt with Princess Diana is unparalleled in the Royal Family today.
From the moment that the world tuned in to see Princess Diana and the man then known as King Charles III tie the knot, fans looked up to her. As the years went by after that, Princess Diana gave fans more reasons to adore her as she advocated for a slew of charities and showed so much compassion.
For someone who seemed to make the world a better place to suddenly be gone was devastating. Worse yet, the senseless nature of what caused Princess Diana's demise made the whole situation harder to take.
In the aftermath of Princess Diana's passing, the two people that the masses felt especially bad for were her sons. At that moment in the year 1997, many proud Brits stood outside Buckingham Palace hoping to get a chance to tell Prince Harry and Prince William they were grieving with them.
Looking back at how much love there was for the Princes in 1997, it is amazing to know that Princess Diana's will would lead to controversy many years later. The reason for that is when the world found out that Princess Diana's final wishes weren't followed, many people were outraged for her.
When Princess Diana passed away, her mother and sister were named the executors of her will. The executors arranged for the Princes to evenly split all of their mother's belongings once they reached a certain age. The executors also arranged for 150 of Princess Diana's possessions to go on tour for people to see with the proceeds going to charity.
At face value, it seemed like the executors of Princess Diana's will had done exactly what the dearly departed would have wanted. However, it later was revealed that Princess Diana's mother and sister actually petitioned the court to find out if they could ignore part of her wishes.
According to Princess Diana's will, Prince Harry and Prince William were to inherit her entire estate once they were both at least 25 years old. However, Princess Diana also left behind a "letter of wishes" altering that to the Princes getting 75% of her estate and her 17 godchildren splitting the remaining 25%.
As John J. Scroggin's book "What Dead Celebrities Can Teach Us About Estate Planning" reveals, the executors ignored the "letter of wishes".
"Princess Diana left a “letter of wishes” on transferring certain personal property to her godchildren. The Executors petitioned the court to determine if the letter was enforceable and the court ruled that it was not. The godchildren received nothing."
For Princess Diana's mother and sister to ignore the "letter of wishes", they needed to obtain a "variation order". After receiving that document, the executors made sure everything went to the Princes and they also made it so they only got their inheritances after they were 30 years old.
As for Princess Diana's godchildren, each of them only received a single memento from their godmother.
Do Prince William And Prince Harry Have A Relationship With Princess Diana's Godchildren?
When news of how Princess Diana's final wishes were changed, many people were outraged for her godchildren. As many people pointed out at that time, it didn't make sense to blame Prince Harry or Prince William for how little Princess Diana's godchildren received.
When Princess Diana passed away, the Princes were a couple of grief-stricken children. Despite that, it shouldn't surprise anyone that some people question if the Princes somehow had a role in their mother's godchildren getting nothing. After all, there seemingly are endless examples of Royal conspiracy theories out there.
Of course, even some people who disregard those conspiracy theories still love to gossip about the Royals. Some of those observers seem to think that Prince Harry and Prince William may hate almost everyone in their lives including their mother's godchildren.
If people accept that the Princes had no role in what happened to Princess Diana's estate, there is no reason to think they hate her godchildren. In fact, the exact opposite is true as there is no doubt that Prince Harry and Prince William have close bonds with several of their mother's godchildren.
Some of Princess Diana's godchildren maintained close ties with the Royal family as a whole. For example, when her goddaughter Lady Alexandra Knatchbull got married in 2020, Queen Elizabeth II and the man now known as King Charles III both attended.
Another example of a close tie to the Royal family involved Princess Diana's goddaughter Lady Edwina Grosvenor. In June 2023, Lady Edwina Grosvenor and Princess Kate Middleton opened Hope Street together, a place "where women can recover".
Most notably, Prince Harry is very close with Princess Diana's godson Jake Warren. For proof of that all you have to do is look at the fact that Warren's daughter Zalie Warren is Prince Harry's goddaughter. Zalie Warren even served as one of Meghan Markle's bridesmaids during the Royal wedding when she was only 2 years old.
These are only three examples of how Princess Diana's godchildren remain a part of Royal life.
