For almost three decades, Princess Diana’s life and death have remained one of the biggest stories surrounding the British royal family, with documentaries, books and anniversary specials repeatedly taking the public back to her childhood, her marriage to King Charles III, her sons and the devastating events of 1997, but as the 30th anniversary of her death approaches, Prince William appears to be making a very different choice from his younger brother, Prince Harry.

Harry is reportedly exploring ways to tell his mother’s story again, while William has apparently decided that his own documentary chapter about Diana is finished.

According to The Times, William has declined several offers to make or appear in documentaries about his mother, with the Prince of Wales viewing the 2017 documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy as his “final catharsis.”

That phrase is important because the 2017 film was not simply another royal documentary for William; it was one of the rare occasions when he and Harry sat together and spoke openly about their mother, their childhood memories and the impact her death had on them, giving the public a glimpse of Diana through the eyes of the two boys who knew her as their mother rather than as the global icon the rest of the world saw.

Now William apparently does not want to keep going back. And the timing could hardly be more interesting because Harry is reportedly looking in the opposite direction.

PEOPLE reported that Harry is considering projects to mark the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death in 2027, with a documentary among the possibilities being discussed, although no project has been finalized. Sources said Harry has been speaking to people connected to Diana as he considers how best to honor her legacy.

Harry has also been open about how deeply Diana continues to influence him, saying in 2022, “I certainly hope and believe everything I do makes her proud,” before adding, “I honor my mother in everything I do. I am my mother’s son.”

Those comments help explain why another Diana project could appeal to Harry, especially with such a significant anniversary approaching, but they also highlight the very different direction William appears to be taking.

The Times reports that William does not want another situation in which he and Harry are “pitted against each other,” which adds another layer to his decision to turn down documentary opportunities, because another Diana film could inevitably invite comparisons between the brothers, their memories of their mother and the radically different lives they have created since her death.

William has already said a great deal about Diana, including alongside Harry in the 2017 documentary, and he has previously spoken about the painful decision to walk behind her coffin when he was only 15 years old.

In the BBC documentary Diana, 7 Days, William said, “It wasn’t an easy decision, and it was a collective family decision to do that,” offering a glimpse into just how difficult those days were for him and his younger brother.

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That history makes his reported decision to stop revisiting Diana through documentaries especially significant, because William is not a man who needs to prove publicly that his mother mattered to him; he lived through the loss as a child, carried her memory into adulthood and has already opened up about her in ways that will remain part of the public record.

Harry, meanwhile, appears to be considering another way of keeping Diana at the center of the conversation.

That does not necessarily mean the brothers have different feelings about their mother, and there is no evidence that William is trying to prevent Harry from honoring Diana, but their choices reveal two very different approaches to a family story that has followed both men for almost their entire lives.

The contrast becomes even more striking because Diana is already returning to the center of royal discussion, with her brother Charles Spencer publishing Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, while the approaching 30th anniversary is almost certain to bring renewed interest in her life, her death and the lasting effect she had on her sons.

William, however, appears to be saying that he has already told his part of that story.

Perhaps that is because he understands better than almost anyone that another documentary would not simply be about Diana; it would inevitably become another examination of William and Harry, their relationship and the enormous differences between them, something he reportedly wants to avoid as he continues building his own future as Prince of Wales and future king.

Harry may see another Diana project as an opportunity to honor the mother who continues to shape his identity, while William seems to believe that he does not need another television special to explain what she meant to him, and that distinction could become increasingly obvious as the 30th anniversary approaches and more people begin looking backward.

For William, perhaps the most important part of Diana’s legacy is no longer another documentary, another interview or another attempt to explain the tragedy that changed his childhood, but the life he has built since then and the family he is now raising.

And perhaps breaking the Diana documentary cycle is not William walking away from his mother at all, but rather his way of refusing to let the circumstances of her death remain the defining story of his life, because after nearly three decades of watching the world repeatedly return to Diana, he may finally believe that remembering her does not require continually reopening the wound in public.

Harry may want to tell Diana’s story again, but William appears ready to let the story he already told stand on its own, and as another anniversary approaches, that quiet decision could ultimately say more about where the future king is now than another hour-long documentary ever could.