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As the globe remembers Prince Philip, a number of touching recollections have come to light in recent days. Many would recall Prince Philip walking alongside Prince William and Prince Harry at Princess Diana’s somber funeral in 1997. Now new information reveals how the situation evolved.
“We were all talking about how William and Harry should be involved and suddenly came Prince Philip’s voice,” a former government relations director told the UK’s Evening Standard. He recalled a conference call with the Duke of Edinburgh in the lead-up to the funeral. “We hadn’t heard from him before, but he was really anguished. ‘It’s about the boys,’ he cried, ‘They’ve lost their mother.’”
“At a dinner prior to the funeral, Prince Philip said to his grandsons, “I’ll walk if you walk.”
In an interview by ITV with Princess Anne following Prince Philip’s death, she too recalled the sincere moment.
“I seem to remember them saying that, in fact, it was a question of, ‘If you’ll do it, I’ll do it,'” she said. “That was him as a grandfather. … ‘If that’s what you want to do and if you want me to be there, I will be there.'”
Prince Philip walked alongside the boys, William, 15 and Harry, 12, at the time as well as their father Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s younger brother, Earl Spencer. The family walked during the procession from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey in London.
Prince Harry reflected on the funeral in an interview with the BBC in 2017 and the involvement of his brother and father during that time.
“One of the hardest things for a parent to have to do is to tell your children that your other parent has died,” he said. “How you deal with that I don’t know but, you know, he was there for us.”
Prince Philip passed away peacefully at Windsor Castle on April 9. The funeral for the Duke of Edinburgh will take place at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on Saturday, April 17, 3pm local time (or midnight AEST). It is set to be televised with just 30 guests allowed to attend the service.
