The Prince of Wales opened up to well-wishers at Sandringham, Rebecca Barry reports Prince William told well-wishers that walking behind his grandmother’s coffin brought back memories of his mother Diana’s funeral 25 years ago. In a moment of symbolic unity, Prince William and Prince Harry walked side by side behind the Queen’s coffin as it left Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, evoking poignant memories of Princess Diana’s 1997 funeral. The following day, well-wishers – who were among many who gathered in Norfolk to pay their respects to Her Majesty – told the Prince of Wales how proud his mother would be of him. “I’m not that prepared,” the Prince of Wales told well-wishers He told mourners that nothing could really prepare him for his grandmother’s death last Thursday. “Doing the ride yesterday was challenging, it brought back some memories,” said the Prince of Wales. “It’s one of those moments where you think to yourself I’ve prepared for this, but I’m not that prepared. “It’s this weird king of things … because we knew it was 96.” The comments came as the Prince of Wales, accompanied by the Princess of Wales, walked outside the gates of the Sandringham estate, admiring tributes and addressing a crowd gathered to greet the heir to the throne and his wife. Thousands of well-wishers were perched behind metal barriers to catch a glimpse of the couple, who stayed for nearly an hour addressing the crowd. “I said how proud his mother would be of him and he said how difficult it was yesterday because it brought back memories of his mother’s funeral,” said receptionist Jane Wells, 54, from Long Sutton in Lincolnshire. Caroline Barwick-Walters, 66, added: “He told us how difficult it was yesterday, how it brought back memories of walking behind his mother’s coffin.” Mrs Barwick-Walters, from Neath in Wales, said “thank you for sharing your grief with the nation” to Prince William, to whom he replied “she was everyone’s grandmother”. Princes William and Harry walk behind her coffin as the funeral procession approaches Westminster Abbey in 1997. Credit: PA Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed – son of Harrods owner Mohammed Al Fayed – died in a car crash while fleeing paparazzi in Paris on August 31, 1997, sparking a huge outpouring of public grief. He was only 36 years old. The Princess of Wales and her two sons in Austria in 1994. Credit: PA Prince William and Prince Harry, aged 15 and 12, walked through central London in her hearse, along with Charles Spencer, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh, in one of the defining images of their lives. On that somber day on September 6, 1997, they had to walk – and mourn – in front of tens of thousands of people and many millions more on television. William has previously said that walking behind his mother’s coffin was “one of the hardest things I’ve ever done”, while Harry said “I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, in no way”. In scenes reminiscent of that day, Wednesday September 14, the Queen’s grandchildren followed the same route to the Mall and Whitehall. They walked behind their father, King Charles III, and his siblings, the Duke of York, Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex, as the 38-minute ceremonial procession made its way to Westminster Hall, where the Queen lies in State by Monday. The Queen’s remarkable life was recalled in our latest episode of What You Need To Know
