Prince William Wanted to Be a Policeman to Protect Princess Diana

Diana, Princess of Wales and Prince William enjoy some refreshments at Windsor Great Park on June 01, 1991in Windsor, England . — (Image credit: Photo by Anwar Hussein / Getty)

Just as Meghan Markle suffered from the intense scrutiny and media hounding that comes with joining the Royal Family, so too did Princess Diana feel the pressures of her role throughout her time as a royal.

Her two boys, Princes William and Harry, felt how hard this all was for their mom, and William especially took on the role of protector, according to royal author Robert Jobson.

In an excerpt of his 2011 biography William And Kate: The Love Story - A Celebration Of The Wedding Of The Century (uncovered by OK!), Jobson revealed that the 10-year-old prince even thought about picking a career path that would make his mom's life easier.

"Whenever Diana felt uncertain, William was there for her," Jobson wrote. "He once told her he wanted to be a policeman so that he could protect her. Her heart must have ached with love at his earnest words."

This was all at the time when the princess' marriage to Prince Charles was imploding, and Jobson wrote that she leaned on her eldest son for support—sometimes perhaps to an unfair degree.

"She chose her son as confidant at this crucial time in her life," Jobson explained. "Some psychologists claim that when a marriage is rocky the mother often turns to her older or oldest child for the sort of emotional support and advice she would normally hope to receive from her husband. This is what Diana did and sometimes she simply went too far, burdening William with burdens and paranoia."

Interestingly, the Duke of Cambridge has brought something of that protectiveness into his marriage to Kate Middleton. For example, he was recently reported to routinely "fly off the handle" when people "patronize" his wife.

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Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.