Prince Harry made a trip to late mother Princess Diana’s ancestral home in the days surrounding the 27th anniversary of her death. The Duke of Sussex, 39, visited Althorp House during his recent trip to the U.K., PEOPLE reports, staying with uncle Charles Spencer following his appearance at the memorial service for his late uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes, on Aug. 29.
The service for Fellowes, the husband of Diana’s sister Lady Jane, was also attended by Prince William, 42, and Diana’s other sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale. The funeral was held just two days prior to the 27th anniversary of the Princess of Wales’ death at 36 following a car crash in Paris.
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Princess Diana was buried in the middle of Round Oval Lake at Althorp, a location Harry made sure to bring wife Meghan Markle to on the milestone 25th anniversary of his mother’s death. “No visit to this place was ever easy, but this one… twenty-fifth anniversary. And Meg’s first time,” he wrote in his memoir Spare. “At long last, I was bringing the girl of my dreams home to meet mum.”
“We hesitated, hugging, and then I went first. I placed flowers on the grave. Meg gave me a moment, and I spoke to my mother in my head, told her I missed her, asked her for guidance and clarity,” he continued. “Feeling that Meg might also want a moment, I went around the hedge, scanned the pond. When I came back, Meg was kneeling, eyes shut, palms against the stone.” Harry added, “I asked, as we walked back to the boat, what she’d prayed for. Clarity, she said. And guidance.”
Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, also honored his late sister with a tribute on Instagram posted on the anniversary of her death, sharing a collection of childhood photos and newspaper clippings from throughout her life without a caption.
Charles gave Princess Diana’s funeral eulogy on Sept. 6, 1997, calling himself “the representative of a family in grief, in a country in mourning, before a world in shock” and his sister “the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty” as well as a symbol of “selfless humanity.”
Charles also condemned Diana’s treatment by the tabloids, branding her the “most hunted person of the modern age.” He added of Prince Harry and Prince William, “She would want us today to pledge ourselves to protecting her beloved boys William and Harry from a similar fate and I do this here Diana on your behalf. We will not allow them to suffer the anguish that used regularly to drive you to tearful despair.”
