Prince William has confessed he was haunted by memories of his late mother Princess Diana’s funeral when he joined the procession behind the Queen’s coffin this week.
And he admitted he was still close to tears yesterday as he met members of the public at Sandringham.
Thousands turned out to see the Prince and Princess of Wales as they surveyed the sea of floral tributes to Her Late Majesty left at the Norwich Gates to her Norfolk estate.
Many expressed their sympathy to William, 40, who the day before had joined the King and other royals walking behind the late Queen’s coffin on its journey from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.
Jane Wells, who spoke to the prince outside Sandringham yesterday, said: “He told us following the coffin had reminded him of his mother’s funeral, of Diana. He said it had been very difficult.”
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The solicitors’ receptionist from Long Sutton, Lincs, added: “I said, ‘Your mother would be so proud of you, and thank you for sharing your grief with us’, and he said, ‘I’m learning that she was everyone’s grandmother, the way people have reacted’.”
One woman told the prince she was close to tears, to which he replied: “Don’t cry now – you’ll start me.”
Another member of the crowd told how William revealed: “Doing the walk yesterday was challenging. 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.”
William and wife Kate, 40, stayed side by side throughout the 30-minute walkabout yesterday, kneeling to read tributes and smiling at Paddington Bears left in the late Queen’s memory.
Kate visibly welled up as she led a schoolgirl to add her flowers to the sea of tributes at the gates.
William put a steadying hand on her shoulder as the emotional princess continued chatting with families.
Nettie Wells, 90, said: “You could see he looked very emotional and very overwhelmed. He thanked me for coming.”
Kim Theobald, 65, of Leicestershire, said: “He told me they were getting through it all by clinging to lovely memories of The Queen.”
After concerned Amanda Horn, 56, from Norfolk, told mum-of-three Kate that she looked tired, the princess replied: “We are all very tired but the crowds and peoples’ support is keeping us going.”
Amanda said: “William said the children were doing very well and they were trying to keep things as normal as possible.”
In a lighter moment, William made a section of the crowd burst into laughter as he told retired firefighter Steve Hobart, 65, that “it was a good time to get out of London” to dodge the crowds.
He even apologised to one of those he met outside Sandringham for all the inconvenience caused by all the security in the capital.
Meanwhile Kate told one mum they were heading home to “do the school run” – Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and four-year-old Prince Louis last week started their first term at their new school after the family’s move to Windsor this summer.
One crowd member says she had been told that while George understood the loss of his great-grandmother, the younger two understood less.
One well-wisher said: “She said they were keeping this as normal as possible for the children.
“She says the children were settling in well to their new school and Kate was grateful for the support.
“I joked I had to be quick because I had to do the school run and she said she was heading back to do it as well.”
Caroline Barwick-Walters, 65, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, said she became possibly the first person William had spoken to in Welsh since taking his new title.
She said: “I just said good afternoon in Welsh and straight away he said it back to me.”
Prince Harry, who turned 38 yesterday, walked alongside William and their father the King in Wednesday’s solemn procession.
It came 25 years and eight days after they made a similar journey behind Diana’s coffin on September 6, 1997, when William was 15 and Harry still only 12.
The brothers have previously told how difficult that had been for them. Harry has said: “I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.”
* You can now buy Friday's historic Daily Mirror commemorating the death of the Queen here: mirror.co.uk/commemorative
