Princess Diana wrote how Prince William ‘adores his little brother’ in letter to housekeeper

An “intimate” letter from Diana, Princess of Wales, describing how Prince William “adores his little brother” and smothers him with hugs and kisses, is to be sold at auction.

The note, illustrating a proud mother’s love for her sons, harks back to happier times and will be considered all the more poignant in the wake of the ongoing rift between the two brothers.

It is one of several letters sent from the late Princess to Violet Collison, the family’s former housekeeper, to be put up for sale.

Collison, who the Princess affectionately called Collie, was head housekeeper to Diana’s parents at Park House on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

During her time there, she welcomed the births of the princess and her three siblings, Sarah, Jane and Charles.

The correspondence, being auctioned by Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex, reveals that the two women remained in touch throughout the princess’ life.

Most of the letters are thank-you notes for birthday and Christmas presents given to the princess and the boys, but they often include a line or two about her life at the time.

In one letter, written from Kensington Palace on September 25, 1984, the Princess thanked Collie for a gift sent to mark Harry’s first Christmas. She noted that “William adores his little brother & spends the entire time pouring an endless supply of hugs & kisses over Harry”.

A double-sided letter, written on Buckingham Palace notepaper, was dated July 8, 1981 – three weeks before the royal wedding.

In it, the princess wrote: “Everyone frantically busy here doing last minute decorations ... the bride-to-be has remained quite calm!”

A note dated December 26, 1982, reveals of her then 6-month-old son: “William was totally bemused by the event of Christmas, but couldn’t take his eyes off the lights!” Another, sent two years later, on December 13, 1984, suggested that William had opened the presents before Christmas: “William found the parcels and dived into the paper before I could stop him,” the princess wrote.

When the princess’ parents separated, Collie followed her mother, Frances Shand Kydd, to London in 1967, working for her and her new husband until returning to Norfolk to retire in 1973.

Collie died in 2013 at the age of 89.

The collection of more than a dozen letters and cards is to be sold as part of the Out of the Ordinary Sale on July 30. Each note has an estimated sale price of between £200 and £1200 ($436 to $2619), with the handful mentioning William and Harry expected to fetch the most.

Luke Macdonald, director at Sworders Auctioneers, said the letters were “so intimate”.

“They’re things that otherwise we probably would not be aware of outside the small circles of the royal family,” he told the BBC.

“The fact that she was wanting to say a special thank you – for albeit small presents – really says how kind and generous and caring Diana was.”

He said of Collie: “She was a constant in Diana’s life, somebody she could relate to and perhaps even escape from the world she was in. There was huge affection – she adored her.”

- Written by Victoria Ward in Daily Telegraph UK and republished with permission via NZ Herald