The insider’s statement has been backed up by a TV presenter who met the royal in the midst of her distress.
“She started crying about a bomb explosion that had happened in Northern Ireland. Then she went on to talk about William and Harry going to school and how that upset her,” Belfast-born TV broadcaster Eamonn Holmes, 64, revealed.
He shared the emotional memory while recalling a deeply personal exchange with the late Princess of Wales.
Diana, who died aged 36 in a car crash in 1997, while she was a mother of two and the pressures of royal duty were clashing with her role as a parent.
Her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry – now aged 42 and 40 respectively – were sent to boarding school, a royal tradition Diana reportedly found deeply distressing.
“She went into a whole literal sob story,” Holmes said, referencing the emotional weight Diana carried, not only over Northern Ireland’s political violence but also the forced distance from her children.
He added: “We talked about all those things. She was very connected to what was going on in Northern Ireland, very knowledgeable.”
The moment unfolded after Holmes had complimented Diana on her outfit, which he said was a specific green associated with the Royal Ulster Constabulary – the Northern Irish police force during The Troubles.
He went on: “She said, ‘Yes, RUC green, what do you think?’
“And that’s when she got upset – about a bomb, about William and Harry – it all came pouring out.”
