INGRID SEWARD 'Princes Harry and William united in grief over death - but can it help mend rift?'

and Harry will be in mourning following the sad news of a "surrogate father" figure, according to an expert. It has emerged that Graham Craker, a protection officer of both the princes when the were youngsters, has passed away aged 77.

During the funeral of their mother , he walked with them behind their mum's hearse as it was transported from St James's Palace to Westminster Abbey, where her funeral was held. He was also at Balmoral with the two young princes in late August of 1997 when they were told the news that their mum had been killed following a car crash in Paris.

According to royal biographer Ingrid Seward, Mr Craker, who spent 15 years as a royal protection officer before retiring in 2001, was a big part of William and Harry's lives - and was like an old pal to them.

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She told the : "He played a formative role not as a surrogate father, but as an older friend who could always be relied upon to keep them amused.

"Tall and thin, 'Crackers' as he was known, had a personality that one of his colleagues compared to an overgrown schoolboy because of his love of juvenile jokes. He used humour to help in difficult circumstances and his own life had been beset by tragedy when his wife drowned in a lake accident in 1991.

"Crackers somehow kept his cheerfulness and was always on hand when he was most needed. When Diana died, Crackers was part of the force accompanying her hearse to Althorp and would have been a familiar and comforting presence for the boys.

"Crackers accompanied William to his first boarding school Ludgrove but was under firm instructions to remain in the background even though his own room was next door to William’s dorm. He was closer to William than Harry and accompanied him to Eton at a particularly sensitive time in his life escorting him to Windsor Castle to have lunch with his grandparents on a Sunday."

Since the days when Mr Craker worked for the royals, relations between William and Harry have broken down, with the pair barely speaking as they are embroiled in a bitter feud. Last year when their uncle Lord Robert Fellowes died, they both attended the funeral but were seen totally avoiding each other and not talking. And Ingrid believes even the loss of Mr Craker is not something that will bring them back together.

She said: "William and Harry will be saddened by the death of Graham Craker, but I imagine their rift with each other is too sensitive and too deep for them to be reunited even if they were both able to be at his graveside." Mr Craker retired from the Metropolitan Police in 2001 and volunteered for charities in Ware, including Southern Maltings Creative Centre.

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."

They added: "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. "