Prince William Once Told Princess Diana He Wanted to Be a Policeman So He "Could Protect Her," Royal Author Says

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 (opens in new tab) (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.