Princess Diana Wanted Prince Harry and Prince William to Grow Up Experiencing "Life Beyond the Palace Walls"

Princess Diana was always a loving mother to her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. Following her sudden and tragic death in 1997, Harry and William were left without their mother. But according to a royal expert, William and Harry appear to be following in their mother's footsteps when it comes to parenting their own children, and as such, continuing her legacy.

In a column for The i Paper, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond opened up about Princess Diana's wishes for sons William and Harry. "I remember William's mother, Diana, telling me that she wanted her two boys to be brought up in a way no other royal Princes had been," Bond wrote. "And she did her best to give them an idea of what life beyond the Palace walls is like."

Bond also reflected on how Prince William may have internalized his mother's wishes, and nurtured the same freedom in his own children. "William and Catherine have gone further," Bond wrote. "They can't change the fact that their children have been born into an extraordinary destiny and they've introduced them gently to some of the pomp and pageantry, but they've also given them a taste of a more ordinary existence—moving out of Kensington Palace to a relatively modest house with no live-in staff."

The royal expert also noted that the Prince and Princess of Wales are "regulars on the school run, and they chose the school specifically because of its ethos that courtesy, kindness, and empathy are fundamental values in life."

Bond also suggested that Prince William's willingness to attend Taylor Swift concerts and take his son to soccer matches shows that he's embodying Diana's own parenting methods. "William can be quite cool—a charge that could never be leveled against his father [King Charles], whose childhood largely revolved around nannies and nurseries," the royal correspondent explained. "All of this augurs well for a future King George who is at least vaguely in touch with reality."

Following Princess Kate's cancer diagnosis and subsequent chemotherapy treatment, the Royal Family appears to have shifted their priorities. "William and Catherine have shown that they intend to have a work/life balance," Bond said, noting that they are already operating differently from the late Queen Elizabeth.

"William in particular has taken some flak for ring-fencing school holidays as much as possible," Bond wrote. "He's obviously lucky to be able even to attempt to do so, but I admire his determination to be as much of a hands-on dad as possible, especially during his wife's illness." And perhaps, most importantly, Princess Diana's legacy continues.