Princess Diana’s brother hits out at ‘Palace lies’ which led to Prince William and Harry’s walk behind her coffin – and says funeral ‘gives him nightmares’

PRINCESS Diana’s brother yesterday claimed a royal courtier lied that Princes William and Harry wanted to walk behind their mother’s coffin.

Earl Spencer blasted the “truly horrifying” public spectacle which he said still gives him nightmares.

William, Harry, the Earl and Princes Charles and Philip walked in line behind her coffin watched by three million mourners in London and 2.5 billion worldwide.

Earl Spencer said he was adamant the boys, then 15 and 12, should not be subjected to the ordeal.

Harry recently indicated he felt the same, saying it should not have happened “under any circumstance”.

But Earl Spencer insisted an unnamed palace official told him the princes were in favour — to force him to go along with it.

He said: “I was liaising with some courtier at Buckingham Palace and he mentioned it and I said, ‘Of course they’re not going to do that’  . . . he said, ‘Well, it’s been decided’.

“I said she would not want them to do this, and there was lots of embarrassed coughing at the other end and various other conversations.

“Then eventually I was lied to and told that they wanted to do it, which of course they didn’t but I didn’t realise that.”

Di’s funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on September 6, 1997, around a week after her death, aged 36, in a Paris car crash.

Earl Spencer, 53, said of the procession: “I think it was the most horrifying half hour of my life, really — far worse than delivering a speech at the end of it.

“Walking behind my sister’s body with two boys who were obviously massively grieving their mother.

“And it was this sort of bizarre circumstance where you were told you just had to look straight ahead. But the feeling, the sort of absolute crashing of a tidal wave of grief coming at you as you went down this tunnel of deep emotion.

“It was harrowing. I still have nightmares.

“There was an inner turmoil of thinking, ‘My God, this is ghastly,’ but then thinking these two boys are doing this and it must be a million times worse for them.”

Earl Spencer’s eulogy to his sister was seen as a veiled attack on the royals.

He said her “blood family” would look after Wills and Harry “so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition”.

Yesterday Earl Spencer insisted the Queen had privately told guests he had every right “to say whatever he felt — it was his sister’s funeral”.

The earl also believes Diana would have been proud of his speech, which he read to her body days before she was buried.

He told Radio 4’s Today: “I know people will think I’m some sort of fruitcake but I do remember hearing almost some approval, and then I realised I probably had got some of the thoughts in order.”

Earl Spencer also revealed he was called to do a dry run of his eulogy at the Abbey — but found a mysterious group of people listening in.

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He said: “A car turned up here with police and we got the 75 miles to the Abbey in under an hour.

“I had a copy of my speech in my jacket pocket and one in my trouser pocket just in case.

“I was standing at where I was to deliver the speech and then noticed these people just come out of nowhere.

“I thought, ‘My goodness, they’re trying to hear what I’m going to say’.

“I didn’t know who they were but I knew they probably weren’t entirely sympathetic.

“So I went, ‘Oh, I’m such an idiot I’ve left the speech behind so I’ll just read from a hymn book’.

“I read about three words and they said the microphone was fine.

“I just thought it was so personal. I had to protect my speech before delivering it and I didn’t want anyone else having a say.”