Prince William’s Dream Job as a Little Boy Wasn’t Being King—and It Had To Do With Princess Diana
According to Andrew Morton, Prince William's dream was to grow up and protect his mother, Princess Diana.
Princess Diana, Prince William. Photo:
Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images
Prince William was born to be king, but he once had his eye set on an entirely different profession—and it all had to do with his mother, Princess Diana.
Diana’s biographer Andrew Morton—who worked with the late Princess of Wales on the bombshell 1992 book Diana: Her True Story—said that “William and [Prince] Harry were aware of their destiny. On one occasion, the boys were discussing their futures with Diana.”
Princess Diana, Prince William.
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Young William said, per The Mirror, “When I grow up I want to be a policeman and look after you, Mummy,” likely alluding to the consistent and constant press attention that followed the former Princess of Wales everywhere she went—right up until her death at age 36 following a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997.
Princess Diana, Prince Harry, Prince William.
Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images
But a young Harry brought his older brother back to reality, according to Morton, as “Quick as a flash, Harry replied, with a note of triumph in his voice, ‘Oh no, you can’t. You’ve got to be king.’”
Ambitions of becoming a police officer have extended to the next generation, as it seems another future king—Prince George—is also interested in the work. George’s dad William once said that his eldest child was “obsessed” with the police while at a reception at Kensington Palace in honor of Scotland Yard, the headquarters of London’s Metropolitan Police.
Princess Diana, Prince Harry, Prince William.
Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images
While at the reception, Police Commissioner Jayne Richardson told William that more officers were needed in the area, cheekily saying to the prince, “We are recruiting, actually, so if George and [Princess] Charlotte are keen?” To this, William laughed and responded that George “is obsessed, actually, by the police…cars, toys, everything.”
The prior year, George’s obsession with the police even trickled over into his Christmas wish list, as the only gift George asked for was a police car.