Prince William admitted that the procession in which he followed the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, his grandmother, “awakened his memories”, referring to the funeral of his mother, Princess Diana, the BBC and News.ro reported.

The Prince of Wales told mourners outside the royal estate of Sandringham that Wednesday’s procession, which carried the late Queen’s body from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, was a “challenge”. This moment reminded him of the funeral of Princess Diana, his mother. Prince William accompanied his brother Harry at the time, following his mother’s coffin.

Prince William and his wife Catherine spoke to people gathered outside Sandrigham House, who came to pay their respects to the late monarch.

“I want to say yesterday’s procession was a challenge, it brought back some memories…” Prince William confided to a woman in the crowd.

Among those he spoke to was secretary Jane Wells, from Long Sutton in Lincolnshire, who said she told the prince how proud his mother would be of him.

“He said how hard it was yesterday because it brought back memories of his mother’s funeral,” the woman added.

Caroline Barwick-Walters of Wales said she thanked Prince William for “sharing his grief with the nation” and that he replied: “She (née Queen Elizabeth II) was everyone’s grandmother.”

Prince William, then 15, and his brother Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, then 12, walked alongside their father, King Charles III, behind the coffin of their mother, Princess Diana, in September 1997.

The two brothers were side by side again as they escorted the Queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster on Wednesday.

Prince Harry described his mother’s funeral procession in 2017 as an event that could not happen today.

He told Newsweek: “I don’t think any child should be required to do this under any circumstances. I don’t think that’s going to happen today.”