TEXT OF PRINCE HARRY'S EULOGY FOR HIS MOTHER, PRINCESS DIANA,
DELIVERED AT THANKSGIVING SERVICE FOR HER IN LONDON ON AUGUST 31, 2007:
William and I can separate life into two parts. There were those
years when we were blessed with the physical presence beside us of both
our mother and father.
And then there are the 10 years since our mother's death. 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.
She never once allowed her unfaltering love for us to go unspoken or
undemonstrated.
She will always be remembered for her amazing public work. But behind
the media glare, to us, just two loving children, she was quite simply
the best mother in the world.
We would say that, wouldn't we.
But we miss her. She kissed us last thing at night. Her beaming smile
greeted us from school. She laughed hysterically and uncontrollably when
sharing something silly she might have said or done that day. She
encouraged us when we were nervous or unsure.
She — like our father — was determined to provide us with a stable
and secure childhood.
To lose a parent so suddenly at such a young age, as others have
experienced, is indescribably shocking and sad. It was an event which
changed our lives forever, as it must have done for everyone who lost
someone that night.
But what is far more important to us now, and into the future, is
that we remember our mother as she would have wished to be remembered as
she was: fun-loving, generous, down-to-earth, entirely genuine.
We both think of her every day.
We speak about her and laugh together at all the memories.
Put simply, she made us, and so many other people, happy. May this be
the way that she is remembered.
