William and Harry’s childhood bodyguard Graham Craker dies

A former bodyguard to the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex has died.

Graham Craker worked as a close protection officer when Prince William and Prince Harry were children.

He also accompanied Diana, Princess of Wales’s hearse at her funeral after her death in 1997.

Mr Craker’s death was confirmed by his sons on social media, who described him as “an incredible man” who “lived his life so selflessly”.

In his 2023 memoir Spare, Prince Harry spoke fondly of Mr Craker while writing about his mother’s funeral.

He wrote: “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, as in Graham Crackers [sic]. We thought it was hysterical.”

Mr Craker, who was with the princes at Balmoral when Princess Diana died, said in an interview he was in “disbelief” when he found about her death.

Reflecting on the funeral in 2017 documentary Diana: The Day We Said Goodbye, he said: “Most of the time it was almost as if it was raining flowers. It was very poignant knowing that each of those flowers represents the emotions of somebody in the crowd.

“We tried using the windscreen wipers but the driver was finding it quite hard to see.

“I called the motorcycle escort in front and said we need to stop. I took the flowers off the bonnet and laid them beside the road.”

In an interview with the New York Post, he added: “I was standing at the rear of the hearse and William looked up and acknowledged me.

“I looked towards him and nodded. William was comforted that I was with his mum on her final journey.”

Mr Craker served with the Metropolitan Police for 35 years, retiring in 2001.

He was awarded the Royal Victorian Order – an award given to people who have served the monarchy personally.

His sons Graham and James wrote in a tribute: “He was an incredible man – our hero, our rock – and meant everything to us.

“Words can’t describe the pride we feel in how he lived his life so selflessly, not only in his professional career but in his personal life, right up to the very end.”