Harry, William And Charles Walk Behind The Queen's Coffin In Gut-Wrenching Echo Of 1997

Princess Diana's funeral 25 years ago created an eerily similar image.
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Charles, William and Harry
DANIEL LEAL via Getty Images

Princes Harry and William walked behind their grandmother’s coffin today with their father King Charles, echoing powerful images from 25 years ago.

All three were part of Wednesday’s procession escorting the coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where the Queen will lie-in-state until her funeral on Monday, September 19.

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Prince William (left) and Prince Harry (second left) next to their cousin Peter Phillips
BBC News

The royals also famously walked together in a line behind Princess Diana’s coffin on September 6, 1997, after she was killed in a car crash at the end of August.

Harry was just 12 and William 15 at the time of their mother’s funeral, making the pictures particularly harrowing.

Flanked by Diana’s ex-husband, then Prince Charles, her brother Earl Spencer and the late Prince Philip, the two young boys walked in the procession throughout London for the haunting occasion.

The Duke of Sussex has spoken out about that experience since, including in an interview with Newsweek back in 2017.

“My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television,” he said.

“I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances.

“I don’t think it would happen today.”

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Prince Philip, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles following the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales to Westminster Abbey in 1997.
- via Getty Images

This time, walking behind the Queen’s coffin, the atmosphere was inevitably a little different.

Harry and William are now men in the thirties, Charles is now King. The three were also accompanied by Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

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Prince William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive as the coffin bearing the body of Her majesty Queen Elizabeth II completes its journey from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall accompanied by King Charles III and other members of the Royal Family.
WPA Pool via Getty Images