 Solution

Fix nested relatively compact subsets of $\Omega$ and let $M$ bound the gradient on the larger one. The fundamental theorem of calculus along a line segment gives $|w_h|\le M$ on the smaller one. Part (i) gives coefficient bounds independent of small $h$, so the De Giorgi-Nash-Moser theorem gives uniform interior Hölder continuity estimates for these weak solutions. Since $Du$ is continuous, the difference quotients $w_h$ converge locally uniformly to $D_{\ell }u$. Passing to the limit in the Hölder seminorm estimate, and repeating for every coordinate, yieldsThe first derivatives are locally Hölder continuous. Here the initially obtained exponent depends on $n$ and the local gradient bound. This is the interior interpretation of the printed regularity conclusion; a uniform global estimate does not follow from $u\in C^1(\Omega )$ alone.