William says walking behind Queen's coffin reminded him of Diana's funeral
The procession evoked memories of the brothers walking behind their mother’s coffin (Picture: Getty)

The new Prince of Wales and heir to the throne marched side-by-side with Prince Harry during Wednesday’s poignant procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.

It mirrored the heart-breaking scenes 25 years ago when the brothers walked with their father behind Princess Diana’s coffin during her funeral in 1997.

Speaking to mourners outside Sandringham on Thursday, William, 40, said the walk had been ‘challenging’, adding: ‘It brought back a few memories.

‘It’s one of these moments where you kind of think to yourself “I’ve prepared myself for this”, but I’m not that prepared.

‘It’s this weird kind of thing, because we knew she was 96.’

William and Kate greet crowds outside Queen’s Sandringham estate

Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales - L-R Earl Spencer Prince Charles Prince William Harry and Prince Charles stand alongside the hearse containing the coffin of Diana after the funeral service at Westminster Abbey. (Photo by Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs via Getty Images)
Earl Spencer, Prince William, Prince Harry and then Prince Charles stand alongside the hearse containing
Princess Diana’s coffin (Picture: BBC News & Current Affairs via Getty Images)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDON - SEPTEMBER 6: Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Earl Spencer, Prince William and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, follow the coffin of Diana The Princess of Wales towards Westminster Abbey for her funeral service on 06 September 1997. Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris 31 August. (Photo by Dave M. Benett/Getty Images)
Following the coffin towards Westminster Abbey for her funeral service (Picture: Getty)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 14: Prince William, Prince of Wales, King Charles III, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Anne, Princess Royal and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex walk behind the coffin during the procession for the Lying-in State of Queen Elizabeth II on September 14, 2022 in London, England. Queen Elizabeth II's coffin is taken in procession on a Gun Carriage of The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall where she will lay in state until the early morning of her funeral. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
The brothers walk behind the coffin during the procession for the Lying
-in State of Queen Elizabeth II (Picture: Getty)
Britain's William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry march during a procession where the coffin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth is transported from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament for her lying in state, in London, Britain, September 14, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
William told mourners it ‘brought back a few memories’ (Picture: Reuters)

He and wife Kate, also 40, who now holds Diana’s old title the Princess of Wales, stepped out of a dark Range Rover near to the Norwich Gates and took time to read messages on the many tributes.

Thousands of well-wishers gathered behind metal barriers to see the couple, who stayed for almost an hour speaking to people.

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William told retired dry cleaner Peggy Butcher: ‘This sea of flowers is unbelievable.’

He also extended his thanks to everyone for going to the Norfolk estate on Thursday.

Ms Butcher, 89, and from March in Cambridgeshire, said afterwards: ‘He seemed to care about us because we cared about the Queen.’

Receptionist Jane Wells, 54, of Long Sutton in Lincolnshire, said: ‘I said how proud his mother would have been of him, and he said how hard it was yesterday because it brought back memories of his mother’s funeral.’

Caroline Barwick-Walters, 66, of Neath in Wales, said: ‘He told us how difficult it was yesterday, how it brought back memories of walking behind his mother’s coffin.’

She said she told William ‘thank you for sharing your grief with the nation’, and that he replied ‘she was everybody’s grandmother’.

The Queen is currently lying in state at Westminster Hall until her state funeral on Monday.

Source:metro.co.uk/