Prince Edward Disliked Diana From The Start But Only Grew To Dislike Sarah Afterward

Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, became two of the most controversial members of the British royal family because of the failure of their respective marriages to Prince Charles and Prince Andrew. But the surprising thing was that Prince Edward never had a good impression of the Princess of Wales at the onset, while her relationship to Fergie only deteriorated later on.

In fact, a royal biographer described Edward as being already “wary” of Diana even before her problems with Charles surfaced. “Almost alone amongst the Royal Family, Edward was not taken in by [Diana’s] glamour,” Ingrid Seward wrote in her book “Prince Edward,” which was published in 1995.

“Unlike Prince Andrew, who in the early days made a great fuss over Diana, Prince Edward was always wary of the seemingly malleable ingenue who so quickly captured the imagination of the world,” she added.

The author wrote that it was as if the prince sensed trouble coming from Princess Di. “It was as if he sensed the trouble she would cause his elder brother and, by keeping her at arm’s distance, he was readying himself for the problems the lay ahead,” Seward shared.

Apparently, Edward’s wariness over Diana didn’t diminish with time. “And the faster Diana spun her glamorous web, the further Edward distanced himself from her,” the biographer wrote.

Meanwhile, Edward's dealing with his other sister-in-law, Sarah Ferguson, was markedly different. While Edward was aloof toward Diana from the start, he was friendly toward Prince Andrew’s wife, Fergie, at first.

“Initially, Edward got on well with the exuberant redhead. Everyone did,” Seward revealed. “She was not Edward’s romantic type — she is much too jolly-hockey-stick for his taste — but they certainly established a friendly rapport.”

In January 1992, photos of Fergie and Steve Wyatt were leaked, which resulted in criticisms about her friendship with the American. During this time, the duchess was reportedly “frozen out” by the Palace, and Edward stopped having lunches with her.

“Edward had once been close to the Duchess, but he had come to believe that she had made a fool of his brother (Andrew),” Seward explained.

Eventually, Edward came to view both Diana and Sarah as responsible for bringing difficulties to the family. “Prince Edward does not hold his sisters-in-law the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of York in high regard,” Seward wrote.

“Taking his cue from the Duke of Edinburgh, he deems them substantially responsible for many of the difficulties that have beset his family and so undermined their public standing,” she added.