William ‘turned down chance to make Diana film to avoid Harry conflict’

Prince William is thought to have rejected the chance to make a film about his mother, Diana, to avoid further conflict with his brother.

The Prince of Wales turned down the project, which was intended to coincide with the 30th anniversary of his mother’s death, for which streaming giant Netflix was thought to be a frontrunner.

The Sunday Times reported William – who was 15 at the time of Diana’s death – is keen to avoid ‘pitting’ himself against Prince Harry.

The heir to the throne is thought to be eager to mark next year’s anniversary in private and is said to have made his final words on the subject in 2017 – on the 20th anniversary of her death.

Harry, on the other hand, is thought to have been approached for several projects, with the Duke of Sussex having a ‘first look’ deal with Netflix, which previously made a six-part series on him and his wife Meghan in 2022.

The brothers collaborated for two documentaries aired on BBC and ITV for the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death.

In the ITV programme entitled Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, William said his mother’s legacy lives with him ‘every single day’, while Harry said her death was as unexpected as an ‘earthquake’.

William later cited his mother’s work on homelessness as ‘inspiration and guidance’ in a 2024 ITV documentary.

He also revealed he referred to his mother as ‘Granny Diana’ to his three children to keep her memory alive.

The development also comes hot on the heels of Earl Spencer’s memoir, which contained stinging criticisms about the king.

William is thought to have been given no notice about the book’s publication, in which the author revealed he was approached by Harry to appear in a documentary about Diana.

Spencer claimed in his book, the King had said ‘we’ll forget her soon enough’ in reference to Diana soon after her death.

The allegations were refuted in a strongly worded statement from Buckingham Palace, which suggested that ‘fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory’.

Asked about how his nephews’ had reacted to his book, Earl Spencer told People Magazine that Harry was ‘completely fine about it’, but declined to say what William’s response was.

The last time William and Harry appeared together to honour their mother was for the unveiling of a statue of Diana in 2021, a meeting which followed Harry and Meghan’s explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.