Prince William and Prince Harry are in mourning following the passing of their former bodyguard, Graham Craker, who played a pivotal role in their lives during the difficult time surrounding their mother, Princess Diana’s, death.
Graham, affectionately known as “Crackers” by the brothers, was with them when they received the devastating news of their mother’s tragic car accident in 1997.
He passed away at the age of 77 and maintained a close bond with the royal family even after retiring in 2001, notably attending Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011.
On the day of Diana’s funeral on September 6, 1997, Mr. Craker was in the front seat of the hearse as her coffin made its way to its final resting place. In his memoir, Spare, released in January 2023, Prince Harry reflected on the emotional experience, recalling how the driver had to stop multiple times so that Graham could clear flowers from the windshield.
“The bodyguard was Graham. Willy and I liked him a lot. We always called him Crackers. We thought that was hysterical,” Harry wrote.
In a retrospective interview, Mr. Craker recounted the moment he learned of Princess Diana’s death while staying at Balmoral with William and Harry.
“I crept down the stairs to the house phone and called the duty office at Buckingham Palace,” he shared. “They said there were reports of an accident, and Dodi Fayed had been killed, but the Princess had also suffered serious injuries.” Craker expressed his disbelief upon hearing the tragic news that Diana had died.
He described the emotional difficulty of those moments: “You try to handle it as best you can, but it’s hard not to get emotional. The hardest part was seeing William the next morning. I approached him and said, ‘I’m very, very sorry to hear your bad news,’ to which he replied sadly, ‘Thank you.'”
Recalling the day of the funeral, Mr. Craker shared, “I was standing at the back of the hearse when William looked up and acknowledged me with a nod. It was clear he took comfort in knowing I was there with his mother on her final journey.”
With a distinguished 35-year career in the Metropolitan Police, Mr. Craker was honored as a member of the Royal Victorian Order by the late Queen Elizabeth II for his dedicated service to the royal family. After retiring, he devoted time to various charities in Ware, Hertfordshire.
