Earl Spencer Claims Prince Harry Was Left Without Enough Support After Diana’s Death

Earl Spencer says Prince Harry was too young to endure the public ordeal of walking behind his mother’s coffin in 1997 and claims the young prince was not given enough care and support in the aftermath of Diana’s death.

In Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Spencer recalls seeing his 12-year-old nephew during the funeral procession and describes being struck by how small and devastated Harry appeared.

The Earl writes that Harry looked “tiny, and slight, and bereft” as he prepared to walk from St James’s Palace to Westminster Abbey, questioning how a heartbroken child could cope with what lay ahead.

Spencer says William, who was 15 at the time, appeared more reserved, while Harry seemed particularly vulnerable.

Spencer says Harry needed more support

As the procession moved through London, Spencer recalls feeling anxious that he could not simply turn around to check on Harry.

He says he took an opportunity when the group briefly moved out of sight to reassure his nephew before they continued toward Westminster Abbey.

After the funeral, the family travelled to Althorp, where Diana was to be buried. Spencer says Harry remained at the forefront of his concerns.

“Instead of calm and nurture, he was allowed to spin out of control,” he writes, arguing that the young prince needed the kind of comfort only his mother could have provided.

Spencer’s account reflects his view of Harry’s emotional state at the time rather than an independently established assessment of how the wider royal family supported the prince.

Harry himself has since spoken publicly about the experience.

In a 2017 interview, he said that having to walk behind his mother’s coffin while thousands of people watched in person and millions more watched on television was an experience he believed no child should have to endure.

He added that he did not think such a situation would happen today.

A disagreement over who would walk where

Spencer also recounts a tense moment during preparations for Diana’s funeral, claiming there was disagreement over the arrangement of the procession.

According to the memoir, then-Prince Charles attempted to establish the formation, saying he would walk in the centre with William on one side and Harry on the other.

Spencer says Prince Philip intervened and rejected that arrangement.

The Earl recalls Philip telling Charles that Spencer, as Diana’s brother, should walk in the centre with William and Harry beside him, while Charles and Philip would take the outside positions.

The eventual procession on September 6, 1997, included Prince Philip, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and then-Prince Charles.

Spencer portrays Philip as a calm and supportive presence for his grandsons during the difficult walk.

Spencer questions Charles’s role

The memoir also reveals Spencer’s strong feelings about Charles taking part in Diana’s funeral procession.

He writes that Charles’s marriage to Diana had ended in divorce only a year earlier after a bitter breakdown and questions why her former husband should have played such a prominent role at the funeral.

His account is part of a much wider series of claims in Swan Song concerning the aftermath of Diana’s death and the royal family’s handling of the funeral.

Other excerpts have included Spencer’s disputed account of a conversation with Charles in which he alleges the then-Prince said, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.” Spencer has stood by his recollection, while Buckingham Palace has pushed back against his wider account.

A Palace spokesman said that the King is mindful that grief between siblings can affect judgment and memory, even many years after a loss.

Harry carries on amid the controversy

While his uncle’s memoir has reopened painful memories surrounding Diana’s death, Harry has continued with public engagements in Britain.

Earlier in the week, he appeared in Birmingham to launch the Invictus Games’ Inspire education programme at Ninestiles Academy.

Harry played pickleball with pupils from Years 7 and 11 and joked about his back hurting after reaching for a low shot. During a question-and-answer session, a student asked him to name someone who inspired him.

Rather than naming a single person, Harry pointed toward the Invictus community.

He described the competitors as people who are knocked down but continue to get back up.

The comments came as renewed attention focused on Spencer’s memoir and its claims about Harry’s childhood and the aftermath of Diana’s death. Harry has not publicly endorsed or disputed his uncle’s account.

The book has nevertheless brought the events of September 1997 back into the spotlight — including the painful question of what William and Harry experienced as two young boys walking behind their mother’s coffin in front of the world.