It was a sight that underlined the true impact of the crash in Paris that claimed the life of Diana, Princess of Wales. As her funeral procession got under way, on September 6th 1997, her two sons began their slow walk behind her coffin. Surrounded by cries of grief and the eyes of millions, Prince William and Prince Harry bravely led mourners in final tributes to the woman they called ‘Mummy’.
However, behind that heart breaking sight, was a complicated truth. It has often been reported that the Duke of Edinburgh offered very vocal support to his grandsons when it was suggested that they walk behind their mother’s coffin as the funeral procession made its way to Westminster Abbey. Concerned that William and Harry might regret not following her cortege, Prince Philip told them ”I’ll walk if you walk”. The younger princes have both since confirmed that the decision for them to form part of the procession was a family one, made together.
Speaking in 1997, as the princes marked the twentieth anniversary of their mother’s death, the Duke of Cambridge said that the walk was ”one of the hardest things I’ve ever done”. William, talking to the BBC for a special programme called ”Diana, 7 Days” added that he used his famous floppy fringe as a shield, hiding behind his hair as he followed his mother’s coffin.
The Duke of Sussex also reflected on the day of his mother’s funeral in the same programme, saying that he didn’t know whether the decision to ask them to follow Diana’s cortege was right or wrong but that, in hindsight, he was ”very glad” he had taken part. Previously, Harry had described the walk as something no child ”should be asked to do” but as he approached the twentieth anniversary of Diana’s death, he expressed his relief to have been involved. Harry also heaped praise on his father, the Prince of Wales, for the way he had cared for him and his brother at that most terrible time for them.
However, the fifth person in the funeral procession, Earl Spencer, has been less supportive of the choice for the princes to take part in that tribute. Speaking to BBC Radio Four’s Today programme in 2017, Diana’s brother said ”the worst part of the day by a considerable margin, walking behind my sister’s body with two boys who were obviously massively grieving their mother.”
He also explained that he had argued the princes, then 15 and 12, shouldn’t walk behind the coffin, as he knew Diana wouldn’t have wanted them to, adding “eventually I was lied to and told that they wanted to do it, which of course they didn’t, but I didn’t realise that.”
Television cameras and media at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales deliberately stayed away from showing the grief of the young princes during the funeral service. Afterwards, they were taken in private to Northamptonshire where Diana was laid to rest on an island at her ancestral home, Althorp House.
