Late Queen 'removed items' from Balmoral to protect William and Harry after Diana’s death
News of Princess Diana's tragic passing was announced 28 years ago today, but a new documentary has revealed how the late Queen ordered two things to be removed from Balmoral as the news broke
Princess Diana's death sent shockwaves around the world as the news broke on August 31, 1997.
But now, in a rare insight into how the Royal Family were told about the tragic events, an expert has revealed how Queen Elizabeth banned two things.
As millions woke up to the heartbreaking news that Princess Diana had sadly passed away in the early hours of the morning, so too did Prince William and Harry, after their father, King Charles broke the news to them.
But, in a bid to make sure that the brothers didn't first hear about their mother’s sad passing on the news, the late Queen reportedly made an active effort to ensure that two objects were removed from their Balmoral home.
In Channel 5's The Day Diana Died, which aired yesterday evening (August 30), Tina Brown, the author of The Diana Chronicles, looked back at how the Royal Family planned to break the news to Diana's two sons.
After it had been decided in the early hours of the morning by the Royal Family that William and Harry weren't going to be woken up during the night, it was King Charles who would later have to break his sons’ hearts.
However, eager for the boys not to find out the news any other way, Tina shared how the Queen temporarily banned two things from their Balmoral residence: "The Queen immediately said that every TV, every radio set had to be removed, and the only TV sets that remained were in the private rooms of the Queen and Prince Philip."
Revealing how she immediately thought of her two grandchildren, Tina added: "For her, the only important thing was to protect Harry and William from the loss of their mother."
In his 2023 memoir, Spare, Prince Harry revealed how his father broke the tragic news, writing: "My dear son, mum has had a car accident."
He added: "There have been complications. Mum has been seriously injured and has been taken to hospital, my dear son."
Princess Diana died on this day in 1997 (August 31) after the car she was travelling in with her boyfriend, Dodi al-Fayed, crashed into a pillar in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris.
The only survivor among those inside the car was the Princess’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones.