Sky Views: Diana's impact has sidelined Charles

Rhiannon Mills, Royal Correspondent

We were in Auckland on the final day of Prince Harry's tour of New Zealand, and there in the crowd was a woman holding a giant laminated poster of Princess Diana's face.

Always polite, Harry went over and listened to how much she adored his mother. His reply: "Yes, you loved her so much you've laminated her." They both laughed.

It's just one example of many that I've seen in the UK and around the world of Prince Harry and Prince William being bombarded with reminders of the huge international adoration for the princess. In places where their mother visited, photographs are always put on display, guest books she signed are brought out for her sons to sign too.

So the fact we've all spent the summer talking about the 20th anniversary of her death hasn't been that unexpected. The dozens of documentaries and newspaper pull-outs showing the perfect princess that we could all put on a pedestal. Beautiful, funny, with that genuine human touch. I'd never fully appreciated how young she was - only 36 when she died.

But what has surprised me is how dangerous Diana still is for the stability of the monarchy and especially Prince Charles. She is able to inflict more damage on the carefully cultivated royal brand than any headline about William being workshy or Prince Charles writing letters to government ministers.

Take one poll this summer for Prospect magazine which found that fewer people than ever before want Prince Charles to be King, while another for the Press Association found the number of people who believe he's made a positive contribution to the Royal Family has fallen in the run up to the anniversary of Diana's death on 31 August.

Not good reading when the papers can't get enough of talking about the incredible impact your ex-wife had on the world.

Diana is able to inflict more damage on the carefully cultivated royal brand than any headline about William being workshy or Prince Charles writing letters to government ministers.

Unintentionally her boys have played a part in those damaging headlines.

For the first time Prince William and Prince Harry have spoken openly about their mother's death. Their memories have been heartbreaking at times. And who can blame them for wanting to reclaim their mother's story after 20 years of former staff, journalists and so-called friends peddling books about the Diana they knew?

But in an ITV documentary about Diana's legacy William and Harry didn't mention Prince Charles at all. In a second BBC documentary there are only a couple of brief mentions of their father's support. He has largely been left out of their narrative, as the viewer again can't help but feel sorry for their mother Diana.

The family have been at Balmoral this summer, just as they were 20 years ago. Who knows if the Diana coverage or those polls have been mentioned over breakfast but it is something that senior royal advisers can't ignore.

Prince Charles can only do so much on his own if he wants to win the public over to the idea of him being King; like any parent as they get older he'll be heavily reliant on his popular sons to give him their support.

Sky Views is a new series of comment pieces by Paste BN editors and correspondents, published every morning.

Previously on Sky Views: Tom Cheshire's Is it okay to be rude to your robot?