Prince of Wales to confer MBE on mother of Harry’s childhood friend who died in crash aged 18

Claire van Straubenzee, seen with husband Alexander, is to receive an MBE – Phil Noble/Reuters

The Prince of Wales will on Wednesday confer an MBE on the mother of Prince Harry’s childhood best friend who was killed in a car crash aged 18.

Prince William is said to have been keen to conduct the investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle due to his personal links with Claire van Straubenzee and her family.

In December 2002, Mrs Van Straubenzee’s middle son, Henry, was killed in a car crash near Ludgrove Prep school in Berkshire, where he was working during his gap year.

He had been due to travel to Uganda before starting at Newcastle University.

Known as “Henners”, he was best friends with the Duke of Sussex, who affectionately described their exploits at Ludgrove in his memoir, Spare.

“Skinny, with no muscles, and hair that stood up in permanent surrender, Henners was all heart,” he wrote. “Whenever he smiled, people melted.”

Henry van Straubenzee, who died in a car crash aged 18, was Prince Harry’s childhood friend – INS New

The Duke said he was the only boy who asked him about his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, after she was killed.

In 2007, the family set up the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund to support children in Uganda, initially at the school where Henry had been due to teach.

Two years later, William and Harry became joint patrons of the charity, which went on to complete more than 1,800 projects across East Uganda.

The brothers were also regular attendees at its annual Christmas carol concert in Chelsea and despite their later estrangement, issued a joint statement marking the 20th anniversary of Henry’s death in December 2022.

However, the family since decided that the time was right to close the charity at the end of this year.

“The charity has left a long-lasting memorial to our son, Henry, and has helped our family overcome the grief of his loss,” they said.

Mrs Van Straubenzee, 69, was awarded an MBE in the 2024 New Year’s Honours list for services to children’s education in Uganda.

Her husband, Alex, 73, and two other sons, Thomas and Charlie, are expected to join her at Windsor Castle for the ceremony.

The Duke, who will be in London to attend a service marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games at St Paul’s Cathedral later in the day, is not expected to join them.

Harry and William at the launch of the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund in 2008 – Anwar Hussein Collection/WireImage

The Duke has described how hearing the news of his friend’s death took him back to the moment in 1997 when his father, then Prince Charles, told him that his mother had died.

He noted in his memoir that, “just like Mummy”, Henry was not wearing a seatbelt.

“The news must have come in the form of a phone call, though I only dimly recall holding the phone, hearing the words,” he wrote.

Both Harry and William attended the funeral, with the Duke recalling how he had queued up to hug Henry’s parents, Alex and Claire, and his two brothers.

The Van Straubenzees have often been described as being like a second family to the Prince and the Duke.

Thomas, now 41, and Charlie, 35, remain close to the Princes.

Both were ushers at the Duke’s wedding to the Duchess of Sussex in 2018 and Charlie gave a speech at the reception.

The Duke is godfather to Charlie’s daughter, Clover, four and Charlie is a godfather to Prince Archie, who turned five on Monday.

In May 2022, Charlie was photographed out cycling with the Duke near his home in Montecito.

Thomas, who is godfather to Princess Charlotte, is often described as the Prince of Wales’s best friend.

Both William and Harry were ushers at his first wedding in June 2013 to Lady Melissa Percy at Alnwick Castle, the Percys’ ancestral home which also serves as the setting for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films.

The couple have since divorced and in July 2020 Mr Van Straubenzee, a property consultant, married Lucy Lanigan-O’Keeffe, a teacher at Thomas’s Battersea, in south-west London, where Prince George and Princess Charlotte were once pupils.

William is godfather to their young daughter, Mary.

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