THE WINDSORS v. THE SPENCERS

James Whitaker, Mirror royal correspondent,

on the bitter feud that has embroiled the young princes, William and Harry

AS IF the Princes William and Harry didn't have enough to put up with since the death of their mother, they have now been drawn unwittingly into a destructive battle between the Windsors and the Spencers. War has not been officially declared, but this was the footing upon which both families found themselves the moment an angry Earl Spencer climbed into the Westminster Abbey pulpit on the day of Diana, Princess of Wales's funeral and made his challenge to the royals sitting beneath him. He pledged: 'We, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative and loving way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men so that their souls vire not simply immersed by duty and tradition but can sing openly as you had planned.'

The attack on the Windsors, a family that the Spencers had served for centuries, was unmistakable and considered unfor- givable. The Queen, who is not only Spencer's sovereign but his godmother too, sat stony-faced as his bitter words spilled out. Largely, the world applauded.

But not the Windsors. They thought his words were inappropriate, downright rude and had been uttered at the wrong time and place. And a fortnight later, when the Spencer family, in the form of Diana's eldest sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, issued an open invitation to the two princes to join them on a Cornish holiday this coming August, just prior to the anniversary of their mother's death, it was not taken up. And very likely it won't be. The two young princes have made it clear that they would rather be with their pater- nal family, the Windsors, at Balmoral.

Such has been the protective barrier put up around these two that nobody but they and their father knows exactly what is going on in their minds. But what is cer- tain is that it was William and Harry them- selves who decided to reject the offer. On all matters involving them, they meet as a family, talk and then make their decision. This has been the way, to my certain knowledge, since William was ten.

So what has made them decide to stay quite so close to their Windsor blood fami- ly? Very likely the high level of personal disharmony that has been a feature of the Spencer family throughout history. A senior Palace official commented this week, 'If you thought the Windsors were bad, you ought to see the bickering between the Spencers.'

Charles Spencer has behaved inexcus- ably over the years. Naturally arrogant and with a bullying nature, as we learned dur- ing his acrimonious and ultimately disas- trous divorce from Victoria last December in South Africa, he does not get on well with the Prince of Wales. Since that ora- tion last September, the two have hardly spoken. When Prince Charles attended a banquet in Cape Town during a visit with Prince Harry, Spencer turned up and only good manners ensured he spoke to his brother-in-law. But onlookers said there was no warmth there. Since then, matters are said to have got worse.

A Buckingham Palace 'elder' described the situation to me in the following words: `There is no love lost between the two men; there never has been. Spencer's a dif- ficult person and extremely chippy. His behaviour at the Abbey will never be for- gotten or forgiven. Why would anybody think that he could give the two princes even a fraction of what their father can supply? The answer is he can't, and if Spencer has to learn this the hard way so be it.'

There are no greater creatures of habit than the Windsors. Their determination to do the same thing at the same time every year is one reason they are a nightmare to keep secure. Their unwavering desire to go to Sandringham at Christmas, to Windsor at Easter, to Balmoral in the summer never falters. That's the way it has been for 150 years and the way they want it for the next 150. So when Lady Sarah and her husband Neil asked the boys to go on a seaside holiday with them they got the response they did. I'm told, 'The royal family doesn't like to change their routine. This had never happened before so the thought was, why do it now?'

Sarah, 42, who is a fiery, opinionated redhead like her brother, has always had an interesting relationship with the Prince since the days, 20 years ago, when she was his girlfriend. In 1978, in an interview for a women's magazine (which she then lied about giving to me) Sarah declared that she would only marry a man with whom she was in love, not caring whether this person `was a dustman or the King of England'. This, she said, was the case with Charles. The Prince was unhappy on two levels: one, that she had been stupid enough to `sing' to me so openly, and two, that she had publicly told the world she didn't love him. 'What a putdown,' he said. Their rela- tionship ended.

I've never believed Sarah didn't want to become the prince's wife. And I feel there was jealousy when Diana stepped into Charles's arms. This feeling is corroborat- ed by Mary Robertson, who employed Diana at the start of her courtship with the Prince. Recalling those summer days of 1980, Mrs Robertson says, 'Lady Sarah was very inquisitive about Diana's romance with Prince Charles. As a result, Diana confided one day, "I don't even dare to pick up the telephone for fear it might be Sarah." I inferred that Diana was uncom- fortable with her sister's curiosity because Lady Sarah was jealous of her little sister at that time.'

Certainly Big Sister, who, I am told, speaks to Prince Charles on a weekly basis these days, displays little of the compas- sion and warm feelings for less well-off people that came to Diana so naturally. The Princess was classless in her attitude to others. She was the least snobby person I ever met. Not so Lady Sarah. A few years ago I was in Annabel's, the Berkeley Square nightclub, at the conclusion of a charity bridge competition in aid of Birthright, of which Princess Diana was patron. Sarah, a competent player, was in the final. Although a loser in an earlier round, my wife and I, plus all other partici- pants, were invited for the final showdown. Naturally, most (although not in fact myself) crowded in for the match. 'No, no,' shouted Sarah. 'Get everybody out. We don't want the riff-raff in here!' She was told to shut up but, under pressure, her true feelings went on show.

Recently, there have been suggestions that Lady Sarah was a deeply private per- son who sought anonymity at all times. That's not how I remember her. At the time I reported on her fling with Prince Charles, she paid Durrants, a news cut- tings service, to supply her with every para- graph and photo written about her and the Prince. I'm not saying this is wrong; I'm merely pointing out that she loved the publicity that went with her high-profile royal relationship. And now that she's president of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and a leading light on the Diana, Princess of Wales Committee she undoubtedly gets the same buzz. The Windsors are, of course, aware of all this. And maybe this is why the Wales branch of the family are cautiously watching any Spencer suggestion. The progress of the boys since the death of their mother has been impressing those close to them. Staff at Highgrove love them and the way they've coped. But they still suffer grievously. The report from Gloucestershire is that the boys are 'very stable'. They say that the two princes spend their time on quad bikes, riding bug- gies and shooting. But girls and all the joys they hold (apart from the problems they can bring) can't be far away from the good-looking William. Sadly for the two young princes, the 'best of the bunch' of the three Spencer Graces — Lady Jane is in the most difficult position of all. She is the wife of Sir Robert Fellowes, the Queen's private secretary. Jane adored Diana (always being closer to her than was Sarah), but her position was often made impossible. All became particularly com- plicated during the protracted divorce negotiations, in which Jane's husband was so heavily involved. And then there was that time when Diana lied about her involvement with the Andrew Morton book. Sir Robert had to apologise to the chairman of the Press Complaints Com- mission, Lord McGregor, for 'misleading' him about the Princess and Morton's book. Caught out, Diana had not told the truth.

Jane, I am told, offers sober, sensible help. 'She's just there and responds when asked. She has none of the trickiness of her brother or sister.'

With the summer holidays approaching there is a growing desire to keep the two boys even more under wraps. Tiggy Legge- Bourke, the rumbustious Sloane so dis- liked by Diana but loved by the three princes, is contributing heavily to this end. She has her own room at both York House and at Highgrove. Following William and Harry's visit to Canada it was made clear that the press (and therefore the public) would not be seeing them for some time.

The publicity of the last few days involv- ing the Memorial Fund, its aims and objects and whether William might one day become more officially involved in it, was considered bad news by the Windsors. A Palace official said to me, 'Why is there always a problem when the Spencers are around?' This is not always so. Lady Sarah has supported Lady Jane in keeping a weather eye on the boys. Both have bowled up at their respective schools to cheer at soccer matches and generally to support. School plays have been attended and there has been lots of letter-writing. But it's not like having Mummy around.