People have been trying to steal or dig up Princess Diana’s buried body, her brother Earl Spencer has revealed. There had been four attempted break-ins at the grave site since the Princess was buried on an island in the grounds of the family’s Althorp estate in 1997. “We have had four attempted break-ins towards her body in the last 20 years. I am very glad that we have seen all of them off,” Earl Spencer told Radio 4’s Today programme.
According to the Independent, some of the attempts could be out of morbid devotion or for financial gain. But it was also possible that some break-ins may have been by eccentric fans trying to investigate conspiracy theories that Diana was not actually buried on the island. There have been theories that Diana was quietly buried at a secret location or cremated with her ashes interred in the family chapel.
In the interview, Earl Spencer, who gave the eulogy at Diana’s funeral, also claimed that he was “lied to” about Prince William and Prince Harry wanting to walk behind their mother’s coffin.
“I had been a passionate advocate for William and Harry not to have to walk behind their mother’s body. I thought it was a bizarre and cruel thing for them to be asked to do,” he said. “I was lied to and told they wanted to do it, which of course they didn’t. But I didn’t realise that.”
