When Prince Harry took Meghan Markle to visit Princess Diana’s grave for the first time, Meghan asked her late mother-in-law for two things.
The Duchess of Sussex’s two-word prayer at the late Princess of Wales’ resting place was revealed by the Duke of Sussex in his memoir Spare.
In 2022 Harry and Meghan marked the 25th anniversary of Diana’s death by visiting the secluded island at the centre of an ornamental lake in the depths of Althorp Park, the Spencer family estate.
Harry wrote about the experience of rowing himself and his wife out to the island.
“No visit to this place was ever easy,” he wrote, “but this one… twenty-fifth anniversary. And Meg’s first time. At long last, I was bringing the girl of my dreams home to meet mum.”
He said that before the couple approached the grave there was a moment where they hung back in hesitation, hugging one another, before he appraoched the grave first and laid flowers.
He went on, “Meg gave me a moment, and I spoke to my mother in my head, told her I missed her, asked her for guidance and clarity.
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“Feeling that Meg might also want a moment, I went around the hedge, scanned the pond. When I came back, Meg was kneeling, eyes shut, palms against the stone.”
He added, “I asked, as we walked back to the boat, what she’d prayed for. Clarity, she said. And guidance.”
Harry and Meghan are reportedly planning to bring their two children Prince Archie (7) and Princess Lilibet Diana (5) to visit their late grandmother’s grave for the first time when they visit the UK next month.
The visit will come just a few days after what would have been Diana’s 65th birthday on July 1.
The website for Diana’s ancestral estate notes that Althorp House and its park will be closed to the public on July 10 and 11, coinciding with Harry and Meghan’s visit. It’s been suggested that this could mean that the Sussexes will be hosted at Althorp at some point during their five day trip to the UK.
Meanwhile, it was reported today that King Charles III has offered to host Harry and Meghan at an unspecified royal estate for part of their stay, and that his offer has been accepted.
The Duke of Sussex has been offered royal accommodation when he previously traveled from his home in Montecito, California to his home country, but has always declined.
Does his acceptance of the offer this time around indicate a thaw in the frosty relations between himself and his father?
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Harry and Meghan’s upcoming trip will mark the first time since in four years that the Sussexes will visit the UK as a family.
However Harry and Meghan are not expected to bring their children to the one year countdown events for the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham, which take place from July 10-17.
Later this summer, August 31 will mark the 29th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death.
The Princess of Wales died tragically after a car crash in a Paris tunnel in 1997, due to a high-speed chase by the paparazzi and what the subsequent inquest described as the “gross negligence” of her driver, Henri Paul, whose blood alcohol was reportedly three times over the French legal limit.
Diana was buried later in a private ceremony in Althorp Park a few hours after her funeral. She was wearing a black woolen long-sleeved cocktail dress by Catherine Walker that she had ordered only weeks before she died, and holding a set of rosary beads that were a gift from Mother Theresa.
Originally, Diana was supposed to be interred in the Spencer family vault at a local church, but the scenes of grief after her death led to concerns that her burial place could be overwhelmed with visitors.
To ensure that her sons and other family members could visit her grave in privacy, Diana was buried on an island in the middle of the ornamental Oval Lake.
The path to the lake is lined with 36 oak trees, each of which represents a year of Diana’s life.
In 2017 her brother Earl Spencer said, “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. There are some odd people out there.”
Although you can’t visit Diana’s grave, Althorp is open to visitors during the summer. You can look across the lake to the white memorial urn that glows among the lush greenery, and visit the lakeside temple dedicated to Diana where visitors can leave tributes.
The temple is decorated with a black-and-white cameo of the princess, as well as one of her quotes: “Nothing brings me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society. It is a goal and an essential part of my life. A kind of destiny. Whoever is in distress can call on me. I will come running wherever they are.”
Next, Before She Died in August 1997, These Were Princess Diana’s Last Words
This story was originally published by Parade on Jun 27, 2026, where it first appeared in the Celebs section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.