Charles Spencer has accused the royal family of failing Prince Harry after Princess Diana’s death. The earl makes the claim in an extract from his book, serialised by the Daily Mail.
The passage appears in Charles’s new memoir about Princess Diana, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.
Charles said he remained troubled by the “lack of obvious care” shown after the funeral. His concern centred on Harry during the train journey to Althorp, where Diana would be buried.
He believed his nephew needed calm and support after enduring the public procession through London.
Harry walked behind Diana’s coffin (Credit: Gerry Penny/EPA/Shutterstock)
Charles Spencer recalls Prince Harry at Diana’s funeral
Harry was 12 when Diana died in Paris in 1997, shortly before his 13th birthday.
On September 6, he walked behind her coffin with Prince William, then-Prince Charles, Prince Philip and Charles Spencer.
“I could not get over how tiny, and slight, and bereft, Harry looked. Too small to be doing this, I thought, and wondered how on earth this heartbroken child could bear the ordeal of that moment, or how he could possibly be expected to deal with the agony that the day ahead would insist upon,” he wrote.
He also noticed Harry’s handwritten card among the flowers on Diana’s coffin, “the agonizing word ‘Mummy’” on it.
William, aged 15, appeared more composed to his uncle, although Charles believed both boys were suffering terribly. That appearance made Harry his immediate focus during the procession, he wrote.
Under an arch and briefly away from public view, Charles reached across and encouraged Harry with a hug.
Earl Spencer has lashed out (Credit: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
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