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As Prince William and Prince Harry walked behind his mother’s casket, Princess Diana, during her 1997 funeral, royal watchers noticed the young prince kept his head down. However, it has since been revealed there was a deeper reason why the then-15-year-old looked so sorrowful.

Why did Prince William try to hide his face during Princess Diana’s funeral walk?

Prince William spoke about the difficult day that he and his 12-year-old brother, Prince Harry, walked behind the coffin of their mother, Princess Diana, during her funeral procession. He shared his thoughts in the documentary Diana: 7 Days.

“I just remember hiding behind my fringe, basically, when I had a lot of hair. And my head’s down a lot, so I’m hiding behind my fringe,” he explained.

William continued, “It was like a tiny bit of safety blanket if you like. I know it sounds ridiculous.”

“At the time, I felt if I looked at the floor and my hair came down over my face, no one could see me. Sounds ridiculous now, but it was important to me to get through the day at the time,” he concluded.

Prince William called the walk behind Princess Diana’s coffin ‘the hardest thing’

Also, in the documentary Diana, 7 Days, Prince William called the walk behind Princess Diana’s coffin “the hardest thing.” He explained his decision to do so alongside his brother, Prince Harry, was carefully calculated.

William said, “It wasn’t an easy decision, and it was a collective family decision to do that. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.” William and Harry walked beside Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, Prince Philip, and their father, then-Prince Charles.

The Prince of Wales continued, “But we were overwhelmed by how many people turned out. I mean, it was just incredible. There is that balance between duty and family, and that’s what we had to do.”

Princess Diana’s eldest son keeps his mother’s memory alive for his three children

Prince William continues to keep the memory of his mother, Princess Diana, alive for his three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. He and Kate Middleton ensure the children know of their beloved late grandmother.

“I think constantly talking about Granny Diana, so we’ve got more photos up around the house now of her, and we talk about her a bit and stuff,” William said in the documentary. “And it’s hard because obviously Catherine didn’t know her, so she cannot provide that level of detail.”

He concluded, “So I do regularly, putting George or Charlotte to bed, talk about her and just try and remind them that there are two grandmothers, there were two grandmothers in their lives, and so it’s important that they know who she was and that she existed.”

Princess Diana died on Aug. 31, 1997. She was 36 years old.

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