Princess Diana would have been sad the Queen has been facing a turbulent time given her great age, a royal expert has claimed.
Diana died exactly 25 years ago aged 36 following a shocking car crash in Paris that left two others, including her companion Dodi al-Fayed, dead. Shortly before her death, royal author and expert Ingrid Seward spent time alone with Diana at Kensington Palace, where they talked about all manner of topics including her sons Prince William and Prince Harry and her future plans. Her shocking passing came just a year after her divorce from Prince Charles was finalised and at a time when she had escaped the shackles of royal life.
Despite splitting from her son, the Queen was said to be fond of Diana - with the late princess even reportedly saying she had the "best mother-in-law in the world".
And Ingrid, editor in chief of Majesty magazine, tells the Mirror that if Diana were still alive - she would be concerned about the monarch, given the strains of her advancing age, the scandal surrounding Prince Andrew and bringing the monarchy into the modern age.
She said: "Diana would have been sad the Queen was having so many troubles at her great age, but she would have known however frail she might appear, the Queen can deal with anything."
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Ingrid also believes that when it comes to her sons, she was deeply proud of both of them.
She added: "She decided she wanted to settle in America and would be thrilled Harry has realised her dream for himself and done just that.
"She knew William's destiny was the monarchy and would have been happy he has come to terms with his tough role.
Meanwhile, at the time of her death, Ingrid says although Diana had plans for her future - she was still worried about her once royal role - and above all her sons.
She explained: "Once Diana’s divorce was finalised on August 28, 1996, she hoped she would find a new sense of freedom.
"At last, she would be able to be her own person, do her own thing and spend her own money, as and how she wished.
"It wasn’t quite like that as she discovered. The royal family still wanted to control her and place restrictions on her future activities and she was terrified she would lose William and Harry to the system she had escaped from herself.
"She insisted she still loved Prince Charles, but once the panic of losing him and being on her own subsided, she began to look for new projects that might benefit from her involvement.
"After the success of her landmines campaign, her attention was caught by child abuse and forced prostitution in Asia. She wanted to do everything she could to eradicate what was taking place in India, Pakistan and Thailand.
"As it turned out it was one of her final wishes, although she didn’t have any idea of how exactly she was going to do it.
"It was Diana’s membership of the royal family that defined her. No matter how hard she tried to take charge of her own destiny, she only managed to break free in the last year of her life. She was happy.
"Helping others was always her calling and if she was still here it would be the same today.
Ingrid Seward is editor in chief of Majesty magazine and author of The Queen and Di and Diana the Last Word.
