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Privacy Notice The Royal Family is famous for exchanging gag gifts at Christmas, but it turns out the festive spirit lasts all year round with their playful banter. The late Diana, Princess of Wales, definitely led the pack when it came to fun and games, often buying cheeky presents or pulling pranks on her boys. There have been plenty of tales about Diana’s playful side, like the time she would give her godchildren the loudest toys just to wind up her pals or when she cheekily arranged for Prince William to be met by three top models. It seems the princess knew how to cause a stir with her humour.
Diana, Princess of Wales was known for her cheeky sense of humour
(Image: Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)
But one story that really stands out is when Diana’s youngest son, Prince Harry, was about to innocently share one of her more “risque jokes” with his teacher, a moment captured in Royal author Robert Jobson’s book ‘William At 40: The Making Of A Modern Monarch’. Jobson pens the scene vividly, saying, “On the school run one morning, she started telling a risque joke, apparently unconcerned that Harry was drinking in every salacious word. Her police protection officer – aware that the language was inappropriate for young ears – tried to stop her mid-flow, but she was having none of it.” “On arrival at Wetherby School in West London, William ran off to his classroom, while Harry immediately started telling the new joke to the headmistress. Belatedly, Diana – who’d gone red with embarrassment – managed to stop him reaching the punchline.”
(Image: Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)
The late Princess Diana was all about giving her boys a slice of normal life, and there’s an excellent anecdote that illustrates this perfectly, shared by Diana’s ex-protection officer, Ken Wharfe. He dished on how Prince Harry was keen to experience the London Underground and the iconic red buses. They jumped on the tube at South Kensington station, zipped over to Piccadilly, and then hopped on the number 38 bus straight to Victoria. But young Harry wasn’t exactly the model passenger. The bus driver, a Sikh gentleman, had a habit of announcing each stop followed by a cheeky “parp, parp, ring, ring.” As they were about to alight at Green Park, cheeky chappy Harry couldn’t resist mimicking the driver, bellowing out: “parp, parp, ring, ring.”
The bodyguard recalled the funny moment
(Image: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
Wharfe spilled that Diana was none too pleased, making Harry apologise on the spot. But it turns out the driver was tickled pink by the prank, reportedly saying, “He loved it”. The bodyguard recalled that the next morning, he was touched to discover a letter from Harry on his desk, inspired by Diana’s lessons to her boys about the importance of showing thanks. Ken Wharfe recounted how the note expressed gratitude for the chance to experience a day as an ordinary lad. True to his cheeky reputation, though, Harry signed off with the very same “parp, parp, ring, ring” that caused a stir previously – what a character!Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnPrince HarryPrince WilliamPrincess DianaChristmasRoyal Family
