Princess Diana's Brother Claims Prince Harry Was 'Allowed to Spin Out of Control' After Her Death

Princess Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, claimed that his nephew, Prince Harry, was “allowed to spin out of control” after the loss of his mother.

Spencer recalled being concerned for his then-12-year-old nephew after Diana’s funeral in 1997, writing about the encounter in his new book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.

“My chief memory of that train journey is of being concerned at the lack of obvious care for Harry, as he decompressed from the ghastliness of the morning,” Spencer wrote, recalling his travel from London to the family estate, Althorp, the place where his sister was laid to rest.

He continued, “He needed Diana’s hugs, of course, and they would forever be denied him. But instead of calm and nurture, he was allowed to spin out of control.”

He went on to say that Harry could have “benefited from a more caring hand” while he was dealing with the loss of his mother.

During the procession to Westminster Abbey, Harry, his brother, Prince William, who was 15 at the time, their father, then-Prince Charles, and Spencer walked behind Diana’s casket. The 9th Earl remembered how Harry looked during the procession.

“I could not get over how tiny, and slight, and bereft Harry looked,” Spencer wrote. “Too small to be doing this, I thought, and wondered how on earth this heartbroken child could bear the ordeal of that moment, or how he could possibly be expected to deal with the agony that the day ahead would insist upon.”

Spencer wrote in his book that Charles asked him and his children to walk behind the casket and found the request odd because the couple had split three years earlier. “Prince Charles was insisting that he wanted to do so.”

He added, “It is hard to see why, given his feelings for Diana.”

He claimed the decision to walk behind the casket “was out of fear,” because Charles did not want to walk alone in public due to possible verbal abuse from the public. The committee decided to have William, Harry and Spencer walk with Charles to avoid any insults. Both William and Charles agreed to walk behind the casket only if their grandfather, Prince Philip, walked with them as well. Spencer wrote that he was fine with the decision only if his nephews weren’t forced to do so.

In his 2023 memoir, Spare, the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry opened up about being made to walk behind his mother’s casket at such a young age. “Several adults were aghast, and that mummy’s brother, Uncle Charles, raised h---. ‘You can’t make these boys walk behind their mother’s coffin! It’s barbaric.’”

He added that another plan was mentioned for William to walk by himself but was quickly shut down. “Back came the answer. It must be both princes. I didn’t want Willy to undergo an ordeal like that without me. Had the roles been reversed, he’d never have wanted me- indeed, allowed- to go it alone," he recalled.

In the 2017 documentary, Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, Harry recalled, "But before I knew it, I found myself with a suit on with a black tie and a white shirt, I think, and I was part of it. Genuinely, I don't have an opinion on whether that was right or wrong. I am glad I was part of it. Looking back on it now, I am very glad I was part of it."