Princess Diana Played a Cheeky Practical Joke on 12-Year-Old Prince William

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Photography via Twitter/kensingtonroyal

Princess Diana may have been best remembered for her good will and humanitarian work, but it turns out the late mother of Prince William and Prince Harry was quite the joker, too.

As part of an ITV documentary called Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, the Duke of Cambridge recalled the time his mum played a practical joke on him, which involved three ’90s supermodels.

“She organized when I came home from school to have Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell waiting at the top of the stairs,” said William. “I was probably a 12- or 13-year-old boy who had posters of them on his wall.”

“I went bright red, and didn’t know quite what to say and sort of fumbled and I think pretty much fell down the stairs on the way up,” he added. “I was completely and utterly awestruck.”

Despite being mortified, Prince William said, “That was a very funny memory that’s lived with me forever.”

Prince Harry also recalls his late mother being “one of the naughtiest parents,” saying she would “smuggle sweets into [their] socks” when she would watch them play football.

“Our mother was a total kid through and through. When everybody says to me ‘so she was fun, give us an example,’ all I can hear is her laugh in my head,” said Harry. “One of her mottos to me was, ‘You can be as naughty as you want, just don’t get caught.'”

The documentary is part of a series of expected tributes to honour the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death on August 31, 1997. Harry says it marks the first time he and his brother have spoken about Diana as a mother.

“Arguably probably a little bit too raw, up until this point,” he admitted. “It’s still raw.”

“Her 20th anniversary year feels like a good time to remember all the good things about her and hopefully provide a different side [that] the others haven’t seen before,” added William.

Additionally, the Duke and Prince Harry released photos from their personal photo albums ahead of the documentary’s air date.

Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy premieres Monday, July 24 in Britain on ITV and on HBO ta 10 p.m. ET in the U.S.

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