Princess Diana felt Harry would be 'better equipped' for the role of King than Prince William

A royal expert has claimed that Princess Diana felt her younger son Prince Harry would be better suited for the role of King than his elder brother Prince William.

The Duke of Cambridge, second in line of succession to the British throne, was aware of his destiny as the future King of the United Kingdom from a very young age. TV broadcaster Jeremy Paxman revealed to the Channel 5 programme "William & Harry: Princes At War?" that Diana told her during a lunch meeting that her elder son would often tell him that he "didn't want to be king." The Princess of Wales also told Paxman that when William says he doesn't want the role his brother tells him, "If you don't want the job I'll have it."

Royal expert Robert Jobson also claimed that Diana once told him that she believes her younger son would actually make a better monarch, and she even had a secret kingly nickname for him. He told the documentary, "She used to refer to Harry as GKH (Good King Harry) because she thought he'd probably be better equipped for the role in the future than William."

Diana was asked in her Panorama interview in 1995 if she thinks the throne should directly go to Prince William from Queen Elizabeth II instead of her then-husband Prince Charles. In response, the princess had said, "Well, then you have to see that William's very young at the moment, so do you want a burden like that to be put on his shoulders at such an age? So I can't answer that question."

Former royal correspondent Jennie Bond noted that the situation is very different now as William, who will celebrate his 40th birthday in June this year, has matured into his future role as the monarch. Bond told OK!, "She [Diana] said that he found at that age, in his early teens, the burden of kingship was already weighing quite heavily on his shoulders. I think we did see a reluctance to take on the role earlier on, in his early adolescence, he knew his destiny as none of the rest of us do from such an early age."

Bond added that the Duke of Cambridge has proved in the last couple of years that he is prepared for the role of the King and "cares" about it. "He absolutely fully accepts the role and the responsibility destiny has put his way," she said.