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Prince William says walking behind Queen Elizabeth’s coffin stirred painful memories of Diana’s funeral

  • Back in 1997, he and his brother Harry, then aged 15 and 12, moved the world by walking behind their late mother’s coffin
  • ‘It’s one of those moments when you think to yourself: I’ve prepared myself for this, but I’m not that prepared,’ William told a group of well-wishers

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Britain’s Prince William, the Prince of Wales, and Catherine, the Princess of Wales, view the flowers left in tribute to Queen Elizabeth at Norwich Gates in Sandringham on Thursday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Britain’s Prince William revealed Thursday that walking behind Queen Elizabeth’s coffin had brought back painful memories, after doing the same for his mother Diana when he was a teenager.

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William, now titled the Prince of Wales, spoke to mourners leaving flowers at the monarch’s private Sandringham estate in eastern England, accompanied by his wife, Catherine.

“Doing the walk yesterday was challenging. It brought back a few memories,” William, 40, told a group of well-wishers who had come to see him, Sky News footage showed.

William walked behind his grandmother’s coffin on Wednesday as it was moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster, beside his younger brother Prince Harry.

Prince William walks with his head bowed behind the coffin of his mother, Princess Diana, on its way to London’s Westminster Abbey in September 1997. Photo: AFP
Prince William walks with his head bowed behind the coffin of his mother, Princess Diana, on its way to London’s Westminster Abbey in September 1997. Photo: AFP

Back in 1997, the brothers, then aged 15 and 12, moved the world by walking behind their late mother Diana’s coffin.

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