As Prince Harry rides the waves in California and Prince William surfed the chilly Scottish waters at university, how Princess Diana sparked her sons’ love for the ocean

Princess Diana loved a dip in the sea… and it seems that her sons share her passion.

Video footage of Prince Harry showing off his surfing skills in California appeared last month.  

And Prince William also enjoyed surfing in the chilly waters in St Andrews in Scotland when he was at university. 

The late Princess of Wales took her mind off her separation from Charles in 1993 on the sandy beaches of Nevis in the Caribbean.

She took William and Harry, then aged ten and eight, bodyboarding and her friend Catherine Soames joined them.

Princess Diana enjoying the waves on Indian Castle Beach in Nevis with William and Harry in 1993

Prince Harry expertly riding a wave on a surf ranch in California. The footage emerged last month

Diana, holding a bright pink board, was seen standing amongst the crashing waves and attempting to ride them.

In another shot, Harry was seen clutching the bodyboard while his mother walks through the water towards him.

‘As the windsurfing began, Diana, in a black one-piece costume, kept falling off her board in the strong wind,’ the Daily Mail reported at the time. 

‘As the windsurfing began, Diana, in a black swimsuit, kept falling off her board in the strong wind.’ 

William and Harry later played cricket on the beach. They ‘used the broken spokes of a sunshade as a wicket and took it in turns to bat while their detectives bowled’.

During the same holiday, the Mail described how ‘she splashes around in the thundering surf of the Caribbean without a care in the world’.

The pictures hit the front pages in the UK and when Diana returned home, she said: ‘That was the best holiday I’ve ever had.’

The late Princess of Wales wading through the waves towards Harry who is holding a board

Diana enjoying the sea foam as she holidays with her two sons in January 1993

The princess attempts to catch a wave with her bright pink board in Nevis 

Prince Harry

Prince Harry followed in his mother’s footsteps recently and was seen in footage last month surfing expertly at Surf Ranch in Lemoore, California.

Professional surfer Raimana Van Bastolaer posted a video of Harry riding the waves.

Captioning the post, Van Bastolaer, who is famous among the surfing community for his big-wave exploits, said; ‘In Tahiti, we still call you Prince Harry. But at Surf Ranch, it’s my brother. It was an honour to have you surf with me and Kelly Slater.’

Beginning by riding alongside Van Bastolaer’s jet ski, Harry pulls away as the wave begins to appear, before expertly leaping up on to the surfboard.

The Duke of Sussex finds his balance and, under the instruction of Van Bastolaer, adeptly negotiates the surging wave for almost a minute.

Prince Harry catching a wave at a Surf Ranch in Lemoore, California

A video of the royal was captured and posted on social media by professional surfer Raimana Van Bastolaer

Prince William

A decade after the surfing holiday with his mother, William hit the waves again… but not on a Caribbean island.

On the much colder shores of St Andrews, Scotland, the 22-year-old prince surfed with his friends in 2004. 

He was in his final year at St Andrews and, according to the BBC, said at the time: ‘It was a bit like putting your head in a freezer when you went underwater, but the wetsuit I’ve got is pretty good.’

‘I couldn’t feel my hands for about half an hour. After a while they get so numb.’

He added: ‘There’s no noise. It’s just you breathing. You’re in a different world with the fish.’

William’s affinity for water continued over the years and he even went surfing on his stag do in Devon in 2011.

He reportedly stayed at the family home of his friend George Stucley, and other guests included his Eton pal James Meade and Thomas Van Straubenzee, with whom he attended Ludgrove Prep School.

Jordan Clark, a 17-year-old student at the time, saw William surfing and said: ‘I didn’t realise who it was at first but then George Stucley came over to me and said, “Can you watch out for these lads as they don’t really know what they are doing?”

‘I looked over and realised it was William. They weren’t very good. They were just paddling about having a laugh.’

Prince William, 22, walking along the beach in St Andrews with two friends in 2004

William riding a wave during his final year of university in Scotland 

Prince Charles  

Charles has even been known to catch the waves, and the first known images of the monarch surfing were captured in 1973.

They show the young prince at Constantine Bay, strolling on the beach in Cornwall, holding a surfboard.

Dressed in a full-length wetsuit, the royal looked like any other surfer and he later went on to become patron of the British Surfing Association.

He also hosted the British surfing team at Buckingham Palace before they competed in the World Championships in South Africa in 1978.