Princess Diana understood, as part of the royal family, that her little princes would one day be burdened by leadership and its trappings. Diana insisted, however, in giving a “normal upbringing as possible” for her boys for as long as she could. Prince William and Prince Harry would bring this mindset even until they grew up and would always recall fondly of their extraordinary experience as “ordinary” children.

The Princess of Wales was very clear — BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond recalls — that the princes will have “work days” and will have “play days.” The work days will be the days where they will look, act and behave like the princes they are expected to be, while the play days will be when the princes may dress, eat or fool around as they wish — just as “regular” children would.

“There will be work days and there will be play days,” Bond retells in the documentary “Prince William At Thirty” posted on YouTube. “And on work days you have to dress up like young princes and you have to behave that way. But on your play days, yes you can wear your jeans, you can have baseball caps, you can eat a burger.”

Former royal protection officer Ken Wharfe commented on how Prince Charles might have reacted then if he found out about the trips to the fast-food chains. “I have to say that the prince would probably have had a fit to think his sons were eating McDonald’s,” laughed Wharfe.

Aside from the occasional fast-food binge, the two princes loved visiting theme parks on a day out with their beloved mother. The family, however, would not use their royal status or any VIP treatment to get out of queues. They would line up properly and wait for their turn.

Prince William and Prince Harry especially liked the more heart-stopping rides. As Wharfe placed it, “the more thrilling the ride, the more times they’d want to go in it.”

Wharfe also recalled the children’s excitement at the possibility that their security detail might get “drenched” at the water rides in Thorpe Park. “I remember coming back to Kensington Palace seriously drenched thanks to William and Harry,” retells the former protection officer.

Today the two princes have grown to become very fine gentlemen, still bearing in mind the influence their mother passed on to them. They still bear their memories of their “normal” childhood and wish the same for their children today.

Princess Diana, Prince Harry, Prince William and Prince Charles
Prince Harry, Prince William and Prince Charles at a parade in the Mall, London, during V.J. Day commemorations, August 1994. Terry Fincher/Getty Images

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