Not so dear Willem! There was a time when the prince was prone to ranting and ranting, says a leading royal author… (And can you guess what the target of his anger was?)

Prince William, it is often said, has come a long way.

The ‘Party Prince’ of yesteryear has today been replaced by a loving father who rarely manages to be a dignified and often humorous figure in public.

At 41 years old, the Prince of Wales is not only a key figure in the monarchy but also popular with the public.

However, the outlook hasn’t always been so bright, as author Robert Lacey explains in his best-selling biography, Battle of Brothers. Storms were all too common.

The brothers are together at Westminster Abbey in March 2020. It’s the last official engagement for Harry and Meghan – and the mood is somber

William stands with head bowed with Prince Charles outside Clarence House as he celebrates the Queen Mother’s 98th birthday

Maybe that was to be expected. King Charles himself is no stranger to occasional outbursts.

Nevertheless, William’s stepmother Camilla was said to be surprised by the ferocity of his tantrums.

“It turns out he’s not Sweet William when he wakes up,” Lacey writes.

‘In the years following her marriage to Prince Charles in 2005, Camilla told members of her own family and close friends of her surprise at discovering this unexpected side of Prince Charming: ‘the boy has a temper!’

‘Charles’ wife was shocked by the tirades and rantings that William occasionally unleashed against her husband in her presence.

‘The arguments were crushing, according to Camilla’s account in the early days, with William doing the shouting and Charles meekly submitting on the receiving end. As she described it, William held nothing back.”

It was an anger, Lacey suggests, consistent with William’s sense of himself as a future king.

Today it is largely hidden, but younger brother Harry has his own opinion about William’s anger.

In his memoir, Spare, Harry claims that during a 2019 row at Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace, William “grabbed me by the collar, ripped my chain and knocked me to the ground.”

Apparently a dog litter box was broken during the argument. (Prince William never gave his version of events.)

According to Lacey, the anger was evident early on, particularly after his mother, Diana, appeared in a 1995 Panorama interview with the now disgraced Martin Bashir.

Much to the embarrassment of William, who was then a student at Eton College, his mother had appeared on national television to discuss the breakdown of her marriage to his father and her affair with James Hewitt.

According to a friend, the ‘healer’ Simone Simmons, Diana soon felt the full power.

“All hell broke loose,” Diana told Simmons. ‘…He started screaming and crying and when she tried to put her arms around him, he pushed her away.

Diana got a taste of how William’s intensity could lead to his infamous rages. The next day he apologized to his mother for his mood with a small bouquet of flowers.’

Princess Diana felt the full force of William’s temper after the Panorama interview in 1995

Robert Lacey says Prince William always railed against his father

“The arguments were crushing,” Camilla told friends

Camilla is said to be surprised by the ferocity of William’s tantrums

Writing in the Daily Mail, Lacey concluded:

‘It must be emphasized that father and eldest son have become much closer in recent times – and especially since the adjustments that the royal family had to make in 2019 and 2020 as a result of their differences and Harry’s departure.

“Prince Charles and Prince William now clearly recognize the need to work closely together for the future of the monarchy.”