Following the death of Princess Diana, pressure was mounting on the Royal Family to publicly acknowledge her passing.
But behind the scenes Prince Charles was ‘paralysed’ with guilt, and the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were trying their hardest to protect their grandsons, according to a royal author.
In his 2018 book Rebel King, Tom Bower wrote: ‘Charles was chanting, “They’re all going to blame me, aren’t they? The world’s going to go completely mad”.
‘One of the Queen’s courtiers would say that even his sons were critical of him for what had happened.’
The Queen’s famous phrase ‘recollections may vary’ seems to apply to the days surrounding the Princess’s funeral on September 6, 1997.
Bower wrote that over the week, the reports about Charles’s reactions were contradictory.
His critics among the Queen’s courtiers in Scotland recounted that he dithered about going to Paris until the Queen advised him to go.
Others claimed that it was he who, against the Queen’s wishes, insisted on flying to France to bring back the body.
Prince Philip reportedly ‘exploded’ and told Tony Blair’s team to ‘f*** off’ when they asked if Prince William and Prince Harry would walk behind Princess Diana’s coffin
Philip and William are pictured during Princess Diana’s funeral procession
Prince Charles, William, Harry, Philip and Earl Spencer are pictured at Diana’s funeral on Sep 6, 1997
Bower added: ‘The majority of the media, relying on Mark Bolland (deputy private secretary to the Prince of Wales), who was at Balmoral, reported that Charles had taken control.
‘They either concealed or were ignorant of his reluctance to fly to Paris. As the media’s only “eyewitness” source, “Bolland could spin what he liked”, one journalist griped.’
Resentment towards the Royal Family was mounting and, as Bower wrote, ‘advisers searched forlornly for solutions’.
‘Unexpectedly, they found themselves relying on Tony Blair. The Prime Minister had placed himself in an awkward position, as over the previous months, he had built a rapport with Diana.
‘Yet, in the days after Diana’s death, he and his Downing Street aides helped the family and their advisers overcome unfortunate obstacles.
‘It did not help that the Prime Minister did not fully understand the conflicts within the Royal Family.
‘Speaking with limited deference, he saw his duty to “protect the monarchy” from the public’s rage.
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In the days after Diana’s death, Tony Blair and his team tried to help the Royal Family but did not fully understand the conflicts within the Firm, according to a royal author
Tony Blair and Charles are pictured in April 2005 at the funeral of Pope John Paul II, in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City
In his 2018 book Rebel King, Tom Bower wrote about the events leading up to Princess Diana’s funeral
‘The courtiers’ initial gratitude turned into suspicion.
‘Blair did not understand that governments do not own the monarchy.’
And then came the question of whether Charles, 12-year-old Harry and 15-year-old William would walk behind Diana’s coffin in the funeral watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide.
Bower wrote: ‘During an earlier discussion with Blair’s aides, Prince Philip, speaking on the phone from Balmoral, had exploded about the spin doctors’ insensitivity.
‘”F*** off. We are talking about two boys who have lost their mother.”
‘The question was finally resolved over the family dinner on the night before the funeral.
‘To break the deadlock, Philip said to his grandsons, “Well, if you don’t go, I won’t.”‘
The Duke of Edinburgh’s rage subsided, and at the last minute, he helped win round William, who had wanted to grieve in private.
The Queen and Tony Blair are pictured outside 10 Downing Street in 2002.Tony Blair was the Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007
The family view floral tributes on display outside the gates of Balmoral September 4, 1997
The boys decided to walk behind the coffin with their grandfather, their father, and Diana’s brother Charles, the ninth Earl Spencer
Former Tory MP and writer Gyles Brandreth, a close friend of the Duke, revealed how ‘Prince Philip, who had not planned to walk, said to William, “If I walk, will you walk with me?”’
The boys decided to walk behind the coffin with their grandfather, their father, and Diana’s brother Charles, the ninth Earl Spencer.
Earl Spencer previously told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that it was a ‘very bizarre and cruel thing’ for Diana’s sons to be asked to walk behind her body and suggested he was lied to about the boys’ desire to take part in the procession.
William has since described it as ‘one of the hardest things I’ve ever done’.
‘It felt she was almost walking along beside us to get us through it,’ he said.
The call from Blair’s team reportedly included Alastair Campbell and was convened by the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Airlie.
It came as the Blair government was accused of taking over the funeral plans.
Other ideas to ‘show the Royals cared’ about Diana were floated, including creating a ‘Pied Piper effect’, whereby barriers were removed to allow the public to surge behind the procession. It was rejected by the police on safety grounds.
William has since described walking behind his mother’s coffin as ‘one of the hardest things I’ve ever done’
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip look at the floral tributes to Diana left outside Buckingham Palace on the eve of the Princess’s funeral
The call was also witnessed by Blair’s No 10 ‘gatekeeper’ Anji Hunter, who has spoken about it in a BBC film about Diana’s funeral.
She said: ‘I can remember – it sends a tingle up my back. We were all talking about how William and Harry should be involved and suddenly came Prince Philip’s voice.
‘We hadn’t heard from him before, but he was really anguished.’
‘“It’s about the boys,” he cried, “They’ve lost their mother.” I thought, “My God, there’s a bit of suffering going on up there.”’
Ms Hunter’s husband, Sky TV political commentator Adam Boulton, has provided an even more vivid account of the phone conversation – and the Duke’s fury.
Mr Boulton said Philip swore when ‘Downing Street spinners kicked around what roles Harry and William should play in the funeral’.
Highly respected Boulton wrote in his book, Tony’s Ten Years: ‘The Queen relished the moment when Philip bellowed over the speakerphone from Balmoral.’
Asked about the Duke’s outburst, Mr Boulton said: ‘He was trying to remind everyone that human feelings were involved.
Asked about the Duke’s outburst, Mr Boulton said: ‘He was trying to remind everyone that human feelings were involved’
Before writing his explosive memoir, Spare, Prince Harry maintained that no child should be asked to do what he and his brother did that day
‘No 10 were trying to help the Royals present things in the best way, but may have seemed insensitive.
‘The princes were uneasy about walking behind the coffin, but No 10’s advice that the Royals had to be seen mourning in public was right.’
Mr Boulton said the Queen, who did not take part in the call, made it clear later that she supported her husband’s emotional response.
The Duke of Sussex has often spoken about the lasting effects his mother’s funeral had on his mental health.
Before writing his explosive memoir, Spare, he maintained that no child should be asked to do what he and his brother did that day.
‘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,’ he told Newsweek.
‘I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.’
When an alternative plan was suggested to have just William walk alone behind the casket, Harry objected, saying he didn’t want his older brother to go through the heartbreaking moment on his own.
When Philip passed away in 2021, Harry and William were among the senior royals to walk behind their grandfather’s coffin as it was borne on a modified Land Rover hearse to St George’s Chapel
William and Harry are pictured taking part in the Ceremonial Procession during the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Windsor Castle on April 17, 2021
‘It didn’t seem right that Willy would have such a hard time without me,’ Harry wrote in Spare.
But William has since said that while it wasn’t an easy decision to walk behind the coffin, ‘there is that balance between duty and family and that’s what we had to do’.
When Philip passed away in 2021, Harry and William were among the senior royals to walk behind their grandfather’s coffin as it was borne on a modified Land Rover hearse to St George’s Chapel.
William wrote in a statement: ‘I feel lucky to have not just had his example to guide me, but his enduring presence well into my own adult life — both through good times and the hardest days.’
