One of the most difficult things about losing a person suddenly is the loss of what could have been. It's something that Princess Diana's sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, have surely given a bit of thought to.
Diana didn't get to see her boys grow up. She didn't get to form a relationship with them as adults. She couldn't proudly boast about their accomplishments in the military. Their wives would never get the chance to bond with their iconic mother-in-law. Of course, their children would never get to know her, either.
Both William and Harry have made some mentions of what they imagine Diana would be like today. Some of that speculation involves what kind of a grandma she would be to her four grandchildren. It's a bittersweet thought, but it's very likely she would have relationships with each of them as unique as the little ones themselves.
When Princess Diana tragically lost her life on August 31, 1997, she left so much behind. There was so much change she could have brought to the world with more time. Many lives could have been changed by her presence. Certainly, no one understands that better than Diana's two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
William and Harry have opened up a lot about their mother's legacy over the years. There's a bittersweetness to knowing they carry on her important work. Diana was robbed of the opportunity to know her sons as grown men, as husbands to their beloved wives, and as fathers to their children.
William and Harry were also robbed of seeing the special bond Diana might have had with each of their children. William has even admitted to imagining it in the documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy.
"She'd be a nightmare grandmother, absolute nightmare," he laughed. "She'd love the children to bits, but she'd be an absolute nightmare."
"She'd come, probably at bath time, cause an amazing scene, bubbles everywhere, bathwater all over the place, and then leave," he imagined.
Though he has jokes about his mom's mischievous streak, he said she would "have been a lovely grandmother."
Harry captures Diana's magic through his recollection of the kind of mom she was.
"When she was alive, we completely took for granted her unrivaled love of life, laughter, fun, and folly. She was our guardian, friend, and protector," he said on the 10th anniversary of her death in 2007.
"She never once allowed her unfaltering love for us to go unspoken or undemonstrated. She will always be remembered for her amazing public work, but behind the media glare, to us, just two loving children, she was quite simply the best mother in the world."
Remembering the magic of Diana whisking her little princes off to Disneyland and McDonald's does give a special insight into what she'd be like as a grandmother. You can almost imagine how she'd connect her four grandchildren.
Julia Samuel was one of Diana's oldest friends and is one of Prince George's godmothers. She's seen what he's inherited from his beloved grandma.
"He's funny and feisty and cheeky and God, [Diana] would have loved him so much," Julia gushed on the How To Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast.
Julia keeps Diana's spirit alive for her eldest grandson with her gifts. "I do to George what [Princess Diana] did to us, which is give impossible toys that are really noisy and take a lot of making," she said.
"I come in slightly tipped by the size of the present that William then has to spend days putting together. And then put all the machinery together, and it makes awful tooting noises and lights flashing and all of that."
We also have a feeling that Diana would love George's sense of style. A combination of the prim and properness of his royal roots and some childlike whimsy that Kate Middleton is credited with working in, George has been heralded a style icon from as early as his first royal tour. Surely, Diana would have loved chatting with Kate about the little guy's sweet wardrobe.
Next is George's little sister, Princess Charlotte. Depending on who you ask, Charlotte bears quite a resemblance to her late grandmother. That may have been conflicting for Diana, who struggled with self-image and mental health issues throughout her lifetime. What we can say for certain, however, is that Diana would have worked hard to make sure Charlotte felt loved and appreciated for who she is, not her title or appearance.
Chances are that Diana would have loved Charlotte's mischievous streak. She may have been right there with her sticking her tongue out at reporters like Charlotte famously did last summer. We can just imagine the two of them slinking around Anmer Hall causing all sorts of chaos.
Prince Louis is only 2 years old, but he's already been hailed one of the more charismatic Cambridges. His big personality and love of the outdoors are something he surely would've bonded with his Granny Diana, as William's kids are coming to know her, over. Diana herself would often be spotted jogging around Kensington Palace grounds and loved to get away to do outdoor activities with her sons.
Last but not least, we've got little Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, the first child of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Archie, who bears a striking resemblance to Harry at that age, likely would have been the apple of his grandma's eye with his signature Spencer red locks.
As he falls further down the line of succession in the future, Archie will have the rare chance to be an approachable royal. He's growing up without a title and with a relatively normal childhood, which will surely give him a unique ability to connect with people. It's one of the traits that made Diana the People's Princess.
