Lord Robert Fellowes, the uncle of Prince William and Prince Harry, has reportedly passed away. He was 82 years old.
Fellowes married Lady Jane Fellows, the sister of Princess Diana in 1978. The couple had daughters Laura and Eleanor and a son Alexander. The cause of death and a statement by the family has yet to be announced.
According to The London Times, the brother-in-law of Prince William and Harry’s mother Diana was the private secretary of Queen Elizabeth II for nine years, from 1990 to 1999. He left his position to go into private banking.
Lord Fellowes was notably the royal’s most influential advisor who assisted in the divorces of three of her children. This included the famous divorce between Prince Charles and Princess Diana. He also helped assist the queen during her “annus horribilis” (aka horrible year), and Diana’s death.
Although Prince William and Prince Harry have yet to make an official announcement about Lord Robert Fellowes’ death, a former friend of Harry’s told The Daily Beast, “The death will be a huge blow to the Spencer family. In normal times, it would be unimaginable that Harry would not be there to support Jane.”
However, the former friend acknowledged that, due to the estrangement issues between Harry and the rest of the royal family members, the situation is complex. “But these are not normal times, and it may well be that everyone feels Harry’s attendance [at the funeral] would just create too much drama. It will be very sad for him if he can’t make it.”
Robert Fellowes Spoke Highly of Prince William and Harry’s Mother Diana Following Her Shocking 1997 Death
Although his relationship with Princess Diana allegedly struggled due to his loyalty to the royal family during and after her divorce from then-Prince Charles, Robert Fellowes spoke highly of Prince William and Harry’s mother following her shocking 1997 death.
“I was deeply fond of her. She was a very good person,” Fellowes stated about Princess Diana following her death. “She found it difficult in life to find happiness, and I’m sad for people who have that situation.”
Following her death, the princess’ sister and Robert Fellowes’ wife Jane took on a major role in raising Prince William and Harry.
“Their friends were the children of their father’s circle,” Tina Brown, the writer of The Palace Papers, shared, per Newsweek “It was Diana’s more sober-sided sister, don’t-rock-the-boat Jane, who became a steady presence in the boys’ lives, hosting them on country weekends in Norfolk with their cousins.”
Brown then shared, “Thanks to her marriage to Robert Fellowes, who stayed a lifelong loyalist to the Queen after he retired as her private secretary, she was almost a Windsor by osmosis.”