Princess Diana’s brother reveals royals lied about William and Harry wanting to walk behind her coffin
PRINCESS Diana’s brother has revealed senior royals lied to him about William and Harry wanting to walk behind their mother’s coffin at her funeral.
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PRINCESS Diana’s brother claims royal officials lied to him about the dead royal’s sons William and Harry wanting to walk behind her coffin during her funeral procession.
In a shock interview with the BBC overnight, Earl Spencer revealed he objected to a plan for the young grieving princes to take part in a public procession and told the Palace his sister wouldn’t have wanted to subject her sons to the “very bizarre and cruel” plan.
However aides insisted William and Harry, who were 15 and 12 respectively at the time, wanted to do it.
“Eventually I was lied to and told they wanted to do it, which of course they didn’t but I didn’t realise that,” Earl Spencer told BBC Radio 4 about Diana’s 1997 funeral.
“We would walk 100 yards and hear people sobbing and then walk round a corner and somebody wailing and shouting out messages of love to Diana or William and Harry, and it was a very, very tricky time.”
Earl Spencer also revealed that there have been four attempted break-ins at her resting place, which were thwarted by the family.
Diana, who died in a Paris car crash aged 36, is buried on an island at the gated estate.
“There are some odd people out there and keeping her right here is the safest place,” he said.
RELATED: Princess Diana’s private photos released by Wills and Harry
One theory is that the intruders wanted to take snaps of her private burial site to flog for a fortune.
Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty Magazine, said: “They would want to take photographs and sell them to European news organisations — the British press wouldn’t run them.”
Earl Spencer explained: “Originally we were going to bury Diana in the family tombs nearby but it wasn’t to be.
“Both because it was impractical and because it would mean the local village being overrun.”
Only a handful of snaps of the grave have emerged, including some by Diana’s ex chef who was horrified to find it overgrown in 2015.
William and Harry joined the Spencer family for a ceremony at the grave on what would have been their mum’s birthday earlier this month.
This story originally appeared in The Sun and is reproduced here with permission.
Originally published as Princess Diana’s brother reveals royals lied about William and Harry wanting to walk behind her coffin