Handwritten letters and cards from Diana, Princess of Wales, have shed light on the close bond between young Prince William and Prince Harry as they grew up.
The letters, written to Diana’s parents’ housekeeper, Violet Collison (affectionately called “Collie” by Diana), are set to be auctioned. Collie was the head housekeeper for Diana’s parents, John Spencer and Frances Roche, at Park House on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, where Diana spent her childhood. Collie was there to witness Diana’s birth and remained a close confidante over the years.
These heartfelt thank-you notes and nearly a decade of correspondence, now being auctioned, provide touching glimpses into William and Harry’s relationship as young brothers. One letter, dated September 25, 1984, and estimated to be worth £1,200, was sent from Kensington Palace. In it, Diana expressed gratitude to Collie for sending baby bibs as a gift for newborn Harry.
Handwritten letters and cards from Diana, Princess of Wales , have revealed the sweet relationship between Prince William and Harry when they were growing up. Harry and William are pictured at home in 1986
She noted that ‘William adores his little brother & spends the entire time pouring an endless supply of hugs & kisses over Harry’.
She joked that the display was ‘wonderful to watch, if we’re allowed near!’ demonstrating the inseparable bond between the two young royals.
The depiction of a tactile and loving relationship between William and his baby brother is a far cry from their famously frosty connection these days.
In his book, Spare, Harry went as far to call William his ‘archnemesis’ and said the pair have always ‘competed’ and detailed physical altercations between the pair.
It is believed the trigger that caused the rift to develop between William and Harry was when the then Duke of Cambridge advised his younger sibling to ‘take things slow’ when he first began dating Meghan Markle in 2017.
Relations became so sour that they reportedly didn’t talk for weeks after Harry’s wedding, where William was best man.
Harry and Meghan’s decision to step down as senior royals in 2020 – informally known as Megxit – and the way it was handled, left William and Charles devastated.
In the documentary – Harry & Meghan: An African Journey – the Duke of Sussex admitted he and William are ‘certainly on different paths at the moment’.
In a letter written to her parents’ housekeeper Violet Collison and dated from September 25, 1984, Diana writes: ‘William adores his little brother and spends the entire time pouring an endless supply of hugs & kisses over Harry’
It’s a far cry from the relationship between the two princes these days, which has famously become frosty (pictured in 2021)
Violet Collison, affectionately known as ‘Collie’, worked for John Spencer and Frances Roche at Park House on the Sandringham Estate and witnessed the future Princess of Wales ‘ birth. Diana pictured when she was young
Diana said the sweet display was ‘wonderful to watch, if we’re allowed near!’ Pictured: Notes being sold at auction
Another letter in the collection dates back to three weeks before Diana and Charles’s wedding in 1981.
The letters being auctioned by Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, show that Violet Collison, the Spencer family’s housekeeper, remained close to Diana’s heart throughout her life. Most of the letters Diana sent to Collie were thank-you notes for birthday and Christmas gifts given to her and her sons, William and Harry.
One particularly notable letter, written on Buckingham Palace stationery, gives a glimpse into the pre-wedding excitement. Dated three weeks before the big day, it reads, “Everyone [is] frantically busy here doing last-minute decorations on the house and things like that. Family all far too excited and, at the moment, the bride-to-be has remained quite calm!” This double-sided letter is expected to sell for around £1,200 at auction.
Meanwhile, as for Diana’s sons, Prince Harry once shared with ITV’s Tom Bradby, “Inevitably, stuff happens. But we’re brothers; we’ll always be brothers.” Despite this sentiment, a source previously told People that the brothers’ relationship has “forever changed” and may never return to what it once was, adding that Harry is focused on his future with his family.
The 24 lots cover from 1979 through Diana’s wedding to Prince Charles and birth of her two sons in the 1980s, to the order of service for her funeral in 1997
After retirement she lived in a bungalow near Sandringham, where Diana would often visit her secretly without her security detail
Now, Collie’s family are selling the collection of cards, letters, photos and invitations at Sworders Auctioneers of Essex
Most of the letters to Collie are thank-you notes for birthday and Christmas presents given to Diana and her children
Another sweet letter sees the late Princess thanking Collie for gifts sent to her young sons.
It said: ‘William found the parcels and dived into the paper before I could stop him.’ That letter is on Kensington Palace paper with a ‘CD’ logo for Charles and Diana – and also has an estimate of £1,200.
After the marriage of Diana’s parents ended, Collie followed Diana’s mother to London in 1967, working for her and her new husband until her retirement in 1973.
Collie died in 2013 at the age of 89.
Luke Macdonald, head of art and estates at Sworders, said: ‘Violet Collison, Collie, was Diana’s parents’ housekeeper when they lived at Park House. She knew Diana from when she was born and remained a constant in her life.
‘At all points she would try to return to see Collie. When she stayed at Sandringham she would escape to see Collie without her security.’
He expressed that they offer a ‘lovely chapter in the history of Diana’.
‘She was one of her closest confidantes,’ Luke continued. ‘They give a nice insight – before the wedding she describes everyone being frantically busy but the bride-to-be staying calm and there are letters about William and Harry that are really sweet.
The ‘once unbreakable’ bond between Prince William and Prince Harry has suffered a ‘devastating breakdown’
Relations became so sour that they reportedly didn’t talk for weeks after Harry’s wedding, where William was best man
“Collie died in 2013, and now the family has decided to sell them because they are just sitting in a box and not being used. There are too many family members to give them to everyone.”
“They talked to Diana’s sisters to make sure it was okay with them to sell.”
This is unique because the items in it have a story behind them; they are not just someone’s collection. From the very first Christmas card to the very last, they tell the whole story of her friendship with Diana.
“Everyone wants a little of Diana. She was the people’s princess and worked well with others.”
After Oprah Winfrey talked to him and Meghan, things got worse.
As part of the Out of the Ordinary Sale on July 30, the group of more than a dozen letters and cards will be sold. People think the things will fetch a lot of money.