Artist imagines what life would be like for the Royal family if Princess Diana was still alive

Artist Autumn Ying imagined what life would be like for the Royal family if Princess Diana was still alive and able to spend time with her daughter-in-laws and grandchildren in a series of emotional paintings. Click through to see them all… 

Prince William and Prince Harry regularly speak about their mother, who died in a car crash when they were aged 15 and 12 respectively, and how much they miss her. 

Ying used photos of both the past and the present to illustrate what it might look like if the British princes and their wives and children could spend time with the People’s Princess today. Here, Ying pairs an older Harry and William with their smiling mother.

Ying was initially inspired by Harry and Meghan’s wedding and decided to create more personal scenes after that. Sharing her art on Instagram, the painter said: ‘Here comes the joyful version of the royal family which I would like to express the family bonding that’s precious’. 

The prints, however, are bittersweet — illustrating what never can be. Harry has previously opened up about how he still struggles with his mother’s death. In the ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, the Prince revealed his mother’s death is ‘a wound that festers’ for him. ‘Everything I do reminds me of her,’ he said. ‘But as I said, with the role, with the job and the pressures that come with that, I get reminded of the bad stuff, unfortunately.’ Here, Ying shows an older and happier Harry laughing alongside his mother.

When Prince Harry and Meghan announced their engagement in 2017, Harry gushed that Diana and his future wife would be ‘thick as thieves, without question’. ‘I think she would be over the moon, jumping up and down, so excited for me,’ the Prince said. ‘It is days like today when I really miss having her around and miss being able to share the happy news’. 

After spending time in the public eye as a married couple, however, Harry became more concerned about his new wife. ‘I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person,’ he wrote. ‘I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces’. 

Prince William has shared similar sentiments about his mother over the years. In an interview with GQ UK, he said:  ‘I was in a state of shock for many years. All I cared about was I had lost my mum… I would like to have had her advice. I would love her to have met Catherine and to have seen the children grow up.’ 

Despite the pain the princes have both struggled with since their mother’s death, however, Ying hopes to bring joy to the world by envisioning a proud Diana as a hands-on grandmother and matriarch. 

While people around the world speculated about Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle’s relationship – and if they get along or not – Ying imagined a world where all of the Royal women were united and happy, with Princess Di acting as a guiding force for both of her daughter-in-laws. 

Ying captioned this print: ‘While Princess Diana won’t get to see both her daughters-in-law in reality, I’m thinking of visualizing this scene as a touching tribute to the late mother of Prince William and Prince Harry.’

The artist also pairs some of her paintings with poetry on Instagram. She captioned this touching print: ‘Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure. You are loved beyond words, and missed beyond measure. We know you’d be with us today if heaven wasn’t so far away.’ 

‘I always have such a daydream,’ Ying said. ‘Even though we don’t know in which part of the world she [Diana] is right now, but if there’s such a magical time map of the world, I would know because the place she exists has to [be] the brightest — the place full of stars, lights and magic’. 

In this holiday post, Ying urged her followers to be thankful for their loved ones. ‘Love your family,’ she wrote. ‘Spend time, be kind and serve one another. Make no room for regrets. Tomorrow is not promised and today is short.’ 

In addition to Royal paintings, Ying has also painted beautiful surreal travel scenes and imagined what Disney princesses might look like in varying scenes. She has also collaborated with brands such as Chanel, Dior, Hilton and Rolex, according to her Instagram page.

After Prince Philip passed away in April, Autum imagined Princess Diana – who was close with the Duke of Edinburgh- welcoming him into the afterlife with her. She wrote in the caption of the photo: ‘Dearest Pa. And so we meet again.’