Prince Harry on Diana: "She was quite simply the best mother in the world"

Pricess Diana's family solemnly marked the 10th anniversary of her death August 31, with her younger son saying in his eulogy "the best mother in the world."


"To lose a parent so suddenly at such a young age, as others haveexperienced, is indescribably shocking and sad," Prince Harry said at the memorial service at the Guards' Chapel near Buckingham Palace.

"It was an event which changed our lives forever, as it must have done for everyone who lost someone that night," said Harry, who was 12 when Diana died.

"But what is far more important to us now and into the future is that we remember our mother as she would wish to be remembered, as she was: fun-loving, generous, down to earth and entirely genuine," he said.

For Harry and his older brother, Prince William, it was a simple tribute to an adored mother.

"To us, just two loving children, she was quite simply the best mother in the world," Harry said. "When she was alive, we completely took for granted her unrivaled love of life, laughter, fun and folly.

"She was our guardian, friend and protector," Harry said. "She never once allowed her unfaltering love us to go unspoken or undemonstrated."

Harry and William were credited with organizing the noontime service, but Charles was blamed by many for the furor over an invitation to his current wife.

Camilla, whom Diana blamed for breaking up her marriage, decided to stay home. That decision followed quickly after the Mail on Sunday published a commentary by Diana's friend, Rosa Monckton, saying the princess would have been "astonished" that Camilla was invited.

"Actually, she would have been astonished to learn that her former husband had married his longtime mistress," Monckton wrote.

The royal family, which clearly was caught by surprise by a national tidal wave of grief 10 years ago, had refrained from any public remembrance of the anniversary of the princess' death.

This year, however, William and Harry took the lead in organizing the memorial service, as well as a rock concert on Diana's birthday, July 1, which drew 70,000 paying fans.

Fox News