Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Walking behind mother’s coffin ‘one of the hardest things I’ve done’, Prince William says

Prince William (left) and Prince Harry, the sons of Diana, Princess of Wales, bow their heads as their mother's coffin is taken out of Westminster Abbey following her funeral service (Adam Butler/PA Wire)
Prince William (left) and Prince Harry, the sons of Diana, Princess of Wales, bow their heads as their mother's coffin is taken out of Westminster Abbey following her funeral service (Adam Butler/PA Wire)

THE Duke of Cambridge has revealed in a new documentary how he believed his mother’s presence was almost beside him as he walked in her funeral cortege.

William and Prince Harry are featured in the BBC programme that recounts the days after Diana, Princess of Wales’ death in a Paris car crash on August 31 1997.

The Duke says in the programme, which will be screened on August 27: “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, is that walk.

“I felt like she was almost walking along beside us, to get us through it.”

In a interview with Tony Blair’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell, for GQ magazine, William said about the walk: “I didn’t feel comfortable anyway, having that massive outpouring of emotion around me.

“I am a very private person, and it was not easy.

“There was a lot of noise, a lot of crying, a lot of wailing, people were throwing stuff, people were fainting.”

Harry voiced his disapproval at having to walk in Diana’s funeral cortege with his older brother, his father the Prince of Wales, grandfather Duke of Edinburgh and his uncle Earl Spencer, in an interview with Newsweek magazine.

Harry told the publication: “I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.”

Diana’s brother Earl Spencer, who is also featured in the documentary, has claimed in a separate BBC interview he was “lied to” about the desire of William and Harry to walk behind their mother’s coffin.

He said he raised objections with royal officials before being told his nephews wanted to do it, adding he later realised this was not the case.

Speaking about his experiences following his mother’s death Harry said in the new documentary: “I remember people’s hands were wet because of the tears they’d just wiped away.”

The documentary Diana, 7 Days will also feature contributions by the Princess’ sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale, her former lady-in-waiting Anne Beckwith-Smith and ex-prime minister Tony Blair.

Diana, 7 Days will be screened on August 27 at 7.30pm on BBC1.