Diana, Princess of Wales' tragic death at the age of 36 in 1997 "brought the world to a standstill" due to the suddenness of the loss. The late royal's brother, Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, lashed out at the press who he claimed "had blood on their hands," and to a surprise to many, the royal family as well, which included her sons, Princes William and Harry, 15 and 12, respectively.
The princess, who divorced from the then-Prince Charles a year before, was no longer a royal even though Queen Elizabeth II allowed her to keep her princess title minus the HRH. At the time of her death, it was reported that Earl Spencer "became enraged" at the year-old slight toward his sister and even went into a "barbaric rampage" when he discovered that Harry and William were to walk behind her casket during a funeral procession.
"It seemed a lot to ask of two young boys," the Duke of Sussex wrote in his memoir, Spare. "Several adults were aghast. Mummy's brother, Uncle Charles, raised h---."
The nobleman apparently screamed: "You can't make these boys walk behind their mother's coffin! It's barbaric."
Harry added: "Uncle Charles was furious. But I wasn't. 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 me — to go it alone."
Earl Spencer lashed out at the royal family at his younger sister's "epic funeral" on September 6, 1997, in Westminster Abbey. The nobleman vowed that he, along with his and Diana's sisters,Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, would "protect" William and Harry as their "blood family," which confused their paternal line family — the royals.
Royal author Tom Quinn told an outlet: "The Spencer family has always felt uncomfortable with the royal family after the death of Harry and William's mother. Earl Spencer, Diana's brother, was openly critical of the way the royal family treated his sister, and of course that criticism largely centered on Prince Charles (as he then was). Like Harry, the Spencers still see the royal family, to some extent, as the enemy."
In recent years, Harry has been seen visiting the Spencer estate at Althorp House where Diana is buried on a secluded, small island within a pond. He took Meghan with him in 2022 where the Duchess allegedly "asked for guidance" from her deceased mother-in-law.
Before recent years, various reports reflected how both William and Harry "drifted apart" from their mother's side of the family, and "barely even knew" their maternal grandmother, Frances Shand Kydd, who died in 2004.
Daily Mirror reported on Quinn's remarks.
