Grieving princes used ‘game face’
BRITAIN: Prince William and Prince Harry have spoken of the bewilderment they felt at the public grief following their mother’s death, admitting they had struggled to understand why so many strangers were crying when they ‘‘didn’t even know her’’.
Prince William, who was 15 when Diana, Princess of Wales, died, said he had felt ‘‘a bit protective at times about her’’ as he walked behind her coffin with his brother, who was just 12.
Admitting that grieving in the public eye had been among the most difficult moments of his life, the prince said he had wondered of weeping members of the public: ‘‘You didn’t even know her, why and how are you so upset?’’
He has since come to understand how much the princess had meant to people, he said, as he and his younger brother spoke candidly about how the watching world in 1997 affected them.
The princes spoke as part of a documentary for the BBC, which sees them publicly defend the decision made by their father, the Prince of Wales, and the Queen to keep them at Balmoral following the car crash that killed their mother.
Prince Harry said: ‘‘One of the hardest things for a parent to have to do is to tell your children that your other parent has died. How you deal with that I don’t know but, you know, he was there for us. He was the one out of two left and he tried to do his best and to make sure we were protected and looked after. But, you know, he was going through the same grieving process.’’
Prince William also paid tribute to the Queen’s decision to keep them at Balmoral in the days following Diana’s death on August 31, 1997. The Queen weathered heavy criticism from a public that accused the royal family of keeping the children ‘‘prisoner’’ and away from the people.
The prince said: ‘‘I don’t think anyone, even my grandmother, had seen anything like this before. I think all of us were on new territory.
‘‘But for Harry and I, my grandmother and father believed we were better served at Balmoral, having the walks and the space and peace to be with the family and not be immersed having to deal with serious decisions or worries straight away.
‘‘I think it was a very hard decision for my grandmother to make. She felt very torn between being a grandmother to William and Harry, and her Queen role.’’
Saying he was thankful there had been no smartphones to keep them updated in London, he added: ‘‘We had the privacy to mourn and collect our thoughts, and have that space.’’
Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Diana’s sister, added of the Queen’s decision: ‘‘She did absolutely the right thing. If I was her I would have done that.’’
The weight of expectation placed on the young princes required them to put on a ‘‘game face’’ in order to avoid ‘‘completely and utterly breaking down’’, said Prince William.
Describing coming back to London to meet the public, he said: ‘‘What was very peculiar but obviously incredibly touching was everybody crying ... and people wanting to touch us ... It was like nothing you can really describe.’’
In hindsight, Prince Harry said he was glad he had walked behind his mother’s coffin, saying he had wanted to make her proud.
– Telegraph Group