public. charles was brought up in such a different environment than the way diana raised her boys. the queen was largely absent because of her work, her royal duty. there just wasn t a lot of affection in his childhood. she realized that she had the opportunity to shape the future of the monarchy through her influence on her boys. one of the key themes of diana s life is the sense of abandonment. she felt abandoned by her mother during the acrimonious divorce between earl spencer. and she was determined that her own children would have a nurturing environment that they could grow up in. she insisted that they go to school so they could mix with their peers, that they weren t off in the palace learning from a governess but they were out in the world. she said i m going to do the school run, be sports stays and school plays. this made her exceptionally relatable to ordinary people w.