“I was standing at the rear of the hearse and William looked up and acknowledged me,” he once shared with The New York Post. “I looked toward him and nodded. William was comforted that I was with his mum on her final journey.”

He recalled the overwhelming public response that day. “There were people in tears, on their knees crossing themselves, throwing flowers at the hearse… even the southbound traffic on the M1 had stopped. People got out of their cars and bowed in respect.”

In a particularly poignant moment, Craker remembered encountering a grief-stricken Prince William the morning after the funeral. The young prince was out walking his dog. Craker quietly approached and offered his condolences. William replied simply, “Thank you.”

In his memoir Spare, Prince Harry spoke fondly of