Prince William will award MBE to mother of Harry’s childhood best friend Henry van Straubenzee who died in 2002 car crash aged 18
Prince William will award an MBE to the mother of Prince Harry‘s childhood best friend who died in a car crash aged 18, in a ceremony at Windsor Castle tomorrow.
The Prince of Wales will conduct the morning investiture which will honour Claire van Straubenzee, 69, for her services to children’s education in Uganda.
Her son Henry van Straubenzee was killed in an accident when he was a passenger during a late-night drive in 2002 in the grounds of Ludgrove School in Berkshire.
Five years later his family set up the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund for children in Uganda, initially at the school where Henry had been set to teach.
In 2009, William and Harry became joint patrons of the charity which has now helped more than 35,000 children in 1,800 projects across 51 schools in the country.
Claire van Straubenzee and her husband Alex at St Michael’s Church in Alnwick in June 2013
Princes Harry and William with guests at the launch of the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund at the Troubadour Club in London on January 8, 2009
Harry receives a kiss from Claire van Straubenzee at the launch of Henry’s charity in 2009
Mrs Van Straubenzee was awarded an MBE in the 2024 New Year’s Honours list, and she is expected to be joined at Windsor Castle tomorrow by her husband Alex, 73, and two other sons, Thomas and Charlie, reported the Daily Telegraph.
Henry van Straubenzee was killed aged 18 in an accident in Berkshire in 2002
Harry is not expected to join them at the ceremony, despite now being in London for an event tomorrow marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games at St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Duke wrote about his time together with ‘Henners’ at Ludgrove School in his memoir Spare, saying: ‘Skinny, with no muscles, and hair that stood up in permanent surrender, Henners was all heart. Whenever he smiled, people melted.’
Harry also claimed that Henry was the only boy who asked him about his mother Princess Diana following her death in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
In December 2022, William and Harry joined forces in a rare show of unity to release a statement remembering Henry on the 20th anniversary of his death.
A joint letter penned for a carol concert for the memorial fund at St Luke’s Church in Chelsea featured both brothers’ names and paid tribute to ‘Henners’, using ‘we’ and ‘us’. The charity is set to wind down later this year.
Prince William with his best friend Thomas van Straubenzee at a polo match in Ascot in 2014
Charlie van Straubenzee and Thomas van Straubenzee attend the wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank at Windsor Castle on October 12, 2018
Prince William with Thomas van Straubenzee at the Cheltenham Festival in March 2013
Both Harry and William went to Henry’s funeral, and still remain close to Thomas, now 41, and Charlie, now 35.
Both were ushers at the Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle in May 2018, with Charlie speaking at the reception.
Harry is also godfather to Charlie’s four-year-old daughter Clover; while Charlie is godfather to Prince Archie, who had his fifth birthday yesterday.
Thomas is Princess Charlotte‘s godfather, and William is godfather to Thomas’s three-year-old daughter Mary. Thomas also spoke at William’s wedding in 2011.
