A high-itched but confident child's voice came over the telephone at London's fashionable San Lorenzo restaurant. It was Prince William booking his mother's favorite table. Eager to please the mother he adores, William has assumed the lead role as the man of the household. "Come on, Mummy," he said to Princess Diana. "We're going for lunch as your favourite restaurant, and I've already booked a table. The touching incident highlights their special relationship. And now that bond has been further strenghtened by the royal couple's marital rift, says royal expert Margaret Holder. "Prince William is painfully aware that his mother is lonely and unhappy in her marriage, and is desperate to please her," she says. "Having a father who is always absent has made him grow up quickly, and now he absorbs the role as the man of the house. She in turn pays much more attention to him rather than his father." The pair as said to be so close that William even mirrors his mother's facial expressions and have movements, which was much in evidence last year at the Wimbledon women's singles final as they laughed and joked together. Unlike Prince Charles, Princess Diana's devotion to her firstborn is seen on countless occasions. The regularly go on holiday together without Prince Charles, and much to William's joy, Diana always takes part in his school's annual sports day events. They also share many interests, such as tennis. "Mothers look at their first child more golwingly and lavish enormous amounts of attention on them, but the novelty sometimes wears of when the next child is born," says behavioural psychologist Dr. Jenny Cozens. "In Princess Diana's case, she would have formed that close bonding at the very early stages of Prince William's life and it has gone from strength to strength." -by Robyn Foyster (News [U.K] ltd./ June 11, 1992)