Prince Harry recounted the devastating burden he faced as he joined walked behind his mother’s coffin during her funeral procession – with today marking 28 years since the sad event
On this day 28 years ago, thousands of people lined the streets of London while 32.1 million viewers tuned in for the final farewell of Princess Diana, just one week after her tragic death.
Prince Harry was just 12 years old when his mother was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997, and just days later, walked behind Diana’s casket for the funeral procession.
Harry, along with Prince William, King Charles, Prince Philip and Diana’s brother, Earl of Spencer, followed the coffin through the streets of London to lead the princess to her final resting place.
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Since that day, Harry has spoken of the moment he walked behind his mother’s coffin and the emotional impact it had on him as a child, as he believes that no child should have been asked to do what he did.
It has been said that both Prince Harry and Prince William were encouraged to follow the coffin by their grandfather Prince Philip who reportedly told them: “I’ll walk if you walk.”
Harry discussed the walk with royal biographer, Angela Levin for her book ‘Harry: Conversations with the Prince’, as he told her: “My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television.
“I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances,” he added. “I don’t think it would happen today. No child should lose their mother at such a young age and then have his grief observed by thousands of people.”
In the documentary ‘Diana, Our Mother’, the Duke of Sussex elaborated: “My mother had just died and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands watching me while millions more did on television.”
William added on the programme: “There’s nothing like it in the world. There really isn’t. It’s like an earthquake has just run through the house and through your life and everything. Your mind is completely split. And it took me a while for it to actually sink in.”
Harry also spoke about the impact of his mother’s death in his explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, as he explained how the trauma of the loss caused him to suffer anxiety and severe panic attacks from ages 28 to 32.
Speaking to the camera, The Duke of Sussex revealed that the pain of his mother’s death led him to use alcohol and drugs to “mask” his emotions and to “feel less like I was feeling”.
He continued: “I was just all over the place mentally, every time I put a suit on and tie on … having to do the role, and go, ‘right, game face’, look in the mirror and say, ‘let’s go’. Before I even left the house I was pouring with sweat. I was in fight or flight mode.”
