'We can look after them.' Her mood, according to a courtier, was 'steely'. 'Thank goodness we're all together,' was the Queen Mother's immediate response. His father explained that he had to fly to Paris, so the boys would stay with their grandparents at Balmoral. The Queen and Prince Philip look at floral tributes to Diana left outside Buckingham Palace on the eve of her funeral 'I knew something was wrong,' William later recalled. Prince Charles woke 15-year-old William at 7.15am and told him of his mother's death. From now on, William and Harry would be her priority. She did not want the princes to hear about the news from anyone but their father. Meanwhile, the Queen wisely ordered the removal of the radio and television from the boys' nursery. He discussed the issue at length with his lover, Camilla Parker Bowles, who was at her Wiltshire home. His first instincts were about how the public would blame him for the tragedy - an assumption that was largely accurate.

When news of Diana's death came through, Charles wept, saying over and over: 'What have we done to deserve this?'

The Queen ordered a pot of tea but never touched a drop as she, Prince Philip and Prince Charles paced the tartan-carpeted corridor, wondering what should be done. In a rare show of affection, the sovereign and her son physically consoled one another, perhaps sensing that this event was going to be emotionally unprecedented. Sinister schemes, murderous intrigues and cold-hearted conspiracies: anything seemed possible in the uneasy hours before dawn. Family grief: Prince Charles, his sons Harry and William, and Earl Spencer Lord Charles Althorp looking on at Princess Diana's Funeral

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