Princess Diana’s Brother Writes Of ‘Lack Of Obvious Care’ For Harry After His Mother’s Death

Princess Diana’s brother released another row of explosive claims leveled at the royal family in a new excerpt from his book, “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.”

Spencer wrote of walking behind his sister’s coffin, calling it “the most harrowing experience of my life,” and saying that it still gives him nightmares.

He also described how emotional it was to have William and Harry alongside him, Prince Philip and Prince Charles, as the two were just 15 and 12 at the time of their mother’s death.

“I could not get over how tiny, and slight, and bereft, Harry looked,” Spencer wrote. “Too small to be doing this, I thought, and wondered how on earth this heartbroken child could bear the ordeal of that moment, or how he could possibly be expected to deal with the agony that the day ahead would insist upon.”

The historian described William as looking “more self-possessed,” though Spencer said he was also likely suffering just as much as his little brother.

“He was the image of his mother then: tall and handsome and dignified. Although I cared deeply about what he must be going through, his greater composure and maturity made him my secondary concern that morning,” Spencer said.

Diana’s brother wrote of finding a moment to reach out to Harry when the five were momentarily out of sight, telling the 12-year-old, “You’re doing bloody brilliantly!”

After the procession behind Diana’s coffin, family and friends gathered into Westminster Abbey for the Princess of Wales’ funeral.

Spencer said William and Harry “had no privacy, sitting so near to their mother’s coffin, the world caring for them very much while devouring their every move.”

Afterward, on the train ride to Diana’s family home of Althorp, where she is buried, Spencer said his chief memory of the journey “is of being concerned at the lack of obvious care for Harry, as he decompressed from the ghastliness of the morning.”

Spencer movingly wrote, “He needed Diana’s hugs, of course, and they would forever be denied him.”

The author added, “But instead of calm and nurture, he was allowed to spin out of control. I have often looked back, reckoning that a more caring hand at such points as this would have helped him enormously in the future. Instead, he seemed so very alone in his despair and torment.”

HuffPost reached out to Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace for comment on Friday, as well as to representatives for Prince Harry.

Buckingham Palace issued an extraordinarily rare response to one of Earl Spencer’s earlier claims, telling HuffPost: “While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss.”

When reached for comment on another of Spencer’s excerpts, a spokesperson told HuffPost Thursday that they “have nothing further to add to our statement from yesterday.”

Spencer has said that “Swan Song,” set to be released on Sept. 22, is “a brother’s simple tribute to an extraordinary sister.”