Anniversary
of Diana’s death comes just days after Harry and Meghan’s return to UK
The
anniversary comes weeks before Charles Spencer prepares to release his memoir
to counter ‘untruths’ about Diana
Sunday 30
August 2026 08:37 BST
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/prince-harry-dianna-death-anniversary-b3041699.html
File
photo dated 06/09/97 of (Left to right) Earl Spencer, Prince William, Prince
Harry and King Charles III, the then Prince of Wales, waiting as the hearse
carrying the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales prepares to leave Westminster
Abbey following her funeral service. The 29th anniversary of Diana, Princess of
Wales’s death falls on Monday, just days after her youngest son the Duke of
Sussex returned home with his family to live in the UK. Issue date: Sunday
August 30, 2026. (PA)
Monday
marks 29 years since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The dat falls just
days after her youngest son the Duke of Sussex returned to live in the UK with
his family.
Six years
after the Megxit crisis, Harry and the Duchess of Sussex have relocated from
California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
During a
brief summer stay, Harry took both children, now enrolled in British schools,
to visit Diana’s resting place for the first time.
The
princess rests on a small island in the Round Oval Lake at Northamptonshire’s
Althorp estate, the Spencers ancestral home now cared for by her brother Earl
Spencer.
Next year
will mark the 30th anniversary of the princess’s sudden death following a car
crash in Paris.
Harry
revealed over the summer that he bakes a lemon drizzle cake annually to mark
the date as a "sweet" way to remember his mother.
Diana,
Princess of Wales, died in a Paris car crash in 1997 (John Stillwell/PA)
Diana –
the ex-wife of the now-King – was tragically killed on August 31 1997 when her
sons Princes Harry and William were just 12 and 15.
The
anniversary comes just three weeks before Charles Spencer prepares to release
his deeply personal memoir to counter “untruths” about her life.
Earl
Spencer, Prince William, Prince Harry and the then-Prince of Wales on the day
of Diana’s funeral (Fiona Hanson/PA)
His new
book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is due out on September 22 and is set to
contain “many revelations that will draw considerable attention”, according to
its publisher.
The earl
famously delivered a passionate eulogy at her funeral, pledging the princess’
“blood family” would protect William and Harry “so that their souls are not
simply immersed by duty and tradition, but can sing openly as you planned”.
He said
of writing the memoir: “With the 30th anniversary of Diana’s tragic death on
the skyline, I’ve been inundated yet again with requests for interviews about
my sister.
“This has
convinced me to write down my own thoughts and memories, once and for all,
rather than having the discomfort of again reading the opinions of others, many
of which are based on untruths that have become accepted over time.”
Earl
Spencer delivers his eulogy at Diana’s funeral in Westminster Abbey (John
Stillwell/PA)
Daniel
Bunyard, publishing director at Penguin Random House UK, said: “While
these pages contain many revelations that will draw considerable attention,
readers will find, for the first time, but also for all time, a fitting tribute
to the beloved woman who was Princess Diana.”
Devoted
fans of the princess usually gather each year at the gates of her former London
home Kensington
Palace to leave flowers and other tributes.
In the
Palace’s Sunken Garden stands the bronze statue of Diana commissioned by the
now-Prince of Wales and Harry, and unveiled by the estranged brothers together
in 2021.
The
then-Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex look at the statue they commissioned
of their mother in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace in 2021 (Dominic
Lipinski/PA)
The pair
put on a united front despite their rift to reveal the sculpture on what would
have been their mother’s 60th birthday.
Their
fallout stretches back to before Harry’s 2018 wedding to American-born former
Suits actress Meghan.
The duke
was apparently angered at what he perceived to be his brother’s “snobbish”
attitude towards his bride, after William questioned whether he should
rush into things.
William
and Harry speak to the crowd at Wembley Stadium during the Concert for Diana in
2007 (Stephen Hird/PA)
But their
relationship deteriorated further during Megxit and after Harry’s accusations
against William and other family members in his Oprah interview, Netflix
documentary and memoir Spare.
William
and the Princess of Wales have yet to comment on Harry and Meghan’s return.
In 2007,
William and Harry commemorated 10 years since their mother’s death together,
staging a pop concert at Wembley on what would have been her 46th birthday, and
an emotional memorial service in London on the actual anniversary.
William
leaves flowers as he and Harry look at tributes to Diana, Princess of Wales
attached to gates of Kensington Palace ahead of the 20th anniversary in 2017
The day
before the 20th anniversary in 2017, the siblings were side by side as they
viewed tributes left for the princess outside Kensington Palace.
The
brothers will be expected to mark this year’s anniversary separately, with a
reunion on the 30th anniversary looking, at this stage, unlikely.
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