Britain's Princess Diana felt "immensely supported" by Queen Elizabeth.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth

Britain's Queen Elizabeth

Patrick Jephson, former private secretary of the late Princess of Wales, has revealed Diana always wanted her sons, Prince William and Harry, to have a close bond with their grandmother.

He shared: "Despite whatever earthquakes were shaking the rest of the Royal world, Diana unfailingly ensured that William and Harry had regular close links with the Queen. Most often an informal tea, arranged with minimal notice and maximum jollity. The benefits for their young minds, not to mention for family cohesion, must have been immense.

"As I saw for myself, the Princess always found these sessions with Granny immensely supportive too, even if the two women never fully overcame the communications barriers between them."

And Patrick believes the 89-year-old royal's close relationship with Prince William is the "key to the [monarchy's] very survival".

Writing for the Daily Telegraph newspaper, he added: "Meanwhile the close, affectionate and mutually enlightening relationship shared by William and his grandmother is at the heart of monarchy's long-term health. It looks increasingly like the key to its very survival."

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