A royal bodyguard who protected Princes William and Harry once revealed a heartbreaking moment after the brothers learned their late mother had died. The emotional interview has resufraced as Graham Craker, who was a protection officer for the royals when they were younger, has sadly died at the age of 77.
He was with both William and Harry at Balmoral back in August 1997 when the news came through that their mum Princess Diana had died following a car crash in Paris. In an interview before his death, he recalled the moment he found out that Diana had died saying he was in disbelief and was quite emotional as he tried to process the news.
And he revealed what made him the most emotional – seeing William for the first time after he had been informed of his mother’s death. Speaking in 2017, he revealed: “Perhaps the most emotional was seeing William the morning after. I saw William walking his dog outside, and I walked up to him and said, ‘I’m very, very sorry to hear your bad news’’ William very sadly said, ‘Thank you’.”
Mr Craker, who spent 15 years as a royal protection officer before retiring in 2001, clearly meant a lot to both brothers, who are now embroiled in a bitter feud, with him being invited to William and Kate’s wedding in 2011. And in his controversial memoir Spare, Harry also spoke fondly of his former bodyguard – but also revealed a heartbreaking memory. On the day of Diana’s funeral, Mr Craker sat in the front of the hearse as it took the princess to Althorp House, her final resting place, following a service at Westminster Abbey.
He was also seen brushing flowers from the windscreen thrown by the thousands of mourners who gathered in grief along the route. Harry recalled in Spare: “The driver had to keep pulling over so the bodyguard could get out and clear the flowers off the windscreen. The bodyguard was Graham. Willy and I liked him a lot. We always called him Crackers. We thought that was hysterical.”
The late Queen made Mr Craker a Member of the Royal Victorian Order for his services to her family. When he retired, he volunteered for charities in Ware, including Southern Maltings Creative Centre.
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Friends and colleagues at the charity wrote: “Today it is with much sadness that we must share that our friend and colleague, Graham Craker, has sadly died. Graham has been on our journey almost from the very beginning and has been behind our bar for the whole of that time, making sure everyone has the best of times.
“While to the most important people in his life Graham was a father, and grandfather, to us he was a valued friend and colleague. He was the only volunteer to have a set of keys to the building, such is the measure of how trusted and respected he was, and it was not unusual to find him around, even when there was no event, because he wanted to make sure the bar was clean, stocked and ready for everyone else.
“But mostly, for those of us who worked events, he will be remembered for his laugh, his warmth and the way he always just wanted to help people. From a career in the police, as a member of the protection squad, a huge driving force in the rotary and eventually a key volunteer at the Southern Maltings, so many people are going to miss our very own James Bond.
“Our broken hearts go out to his family and everyone who knew him. RIP Crackers, we’ll make sure you are remembered behind the bar and will raise a glass for you this evening. “
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