Off The Record

Prince William Hires Princess Diana’s Divorce Lawyers — A Bold Move Stirring Royal Buzz

Published on April 4, 2025

Princess Diana confided in her lawyer, Lord Mishcon, in 1995 when she was plagued by fears that she would be murdered in a fictitious car accident.

Her extremely contentious divorce from Prince Charles was handled by his firm, Mishcon de Reya, and was finalized the following year.

Lord Mishcon gave senior Metropolitan Police officials his contemporaneously typed-up account of his meeting with Diana, which they placed in a safe after the Princess, Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul perished in a car collision in Paris in 1997. However, it took six years for the French authorities looking into her crash to get the note.

It was over ten years after it was written before the Princess’s siblings found out about it. For a considerable amount of time, Princes William and Harry were likewise kept in the dark.

Lord Mishcon, who passed away in 2006, read his note aloud to emphasize its significance during his meeting with police chiefs the month following Diana’s passing. “Efforts would be made if not to get rid of her by some accident in her car, such as a pre-prepared brake failure, at least to see that she was so injured or damaged as to be declared unbalanced [in her mind],” he informed officers, citing the recording of Diana’s statement.

I can reveal that, in an unexpected development, Prince William has now once more resorted to Diana’s attorneys.

In contrast to custom, the successor to the throne has given Mishcon de Reya instructions to act on his and his family’s behalf.

In the past, King Charles’s attorneys, Harbottle & Lewis, specifically its partner Gerrard Tyrrell, have represented William.

“William wanted to strike out on his own,” a source tells me. “He did not want to continue using his father’s lawyers. It’s as simple as that. He wants to be his own man.”

A representative for Kensington Palace chose not to respond, although legal circles are talking about the directive. Harbottle & Lewis, which has represented the Royal Family for many years, is reportedly disappointed. One of the King’s most trusted advisors is Tyrrell, a media law expert.

In 2006, Harbottle & Lewis represented the Royal Family in the News of the World royal phone hacking case, which resulted in the publication’s demise. Princes William and Harry’s cell phones had been compromised by its reporters.

However, Mishcon and its deputy chairman Anthony Julius, whom Diana appointed as her attorney after she divorced Charles, will have been pleased with William’s action.

As one of the original trustees of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, Julius remained in collaboration with William and served as vice-president until the fund’s closure in 2012.

At Buckingham Palace, William’s choice is viewed as the most recent indication of his wish to deviate from his father’s course.

Naturally, money is no object because he inherited the enormous Duchy of Cornwall fortune when Charles took the monarchy in 2022.

The estate, which is worth over £1 billion, gives William at least £20 million a year and spans more than 200 square miles of territory across more than 23 counties.

“William wants to do things differently from his father, and wants to be seen to do them differently,” a friend tells me.

This became evident in 2023 when William decided to have a significant interview with a national publication the day following Trooping the Colour. It meant that his heir’s announcement that he intended to eradicate homelessness took precedence over coverage of the King’s first birthday parade.

William is more than eager to challenge the current quo behind palace doors, as seen by his choice to leave his father’s legal advisors.

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