Since the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York journalist Jimmy Breslin made his name interviewing JFK's gravedigger Clifton Pollard, it's become tradition to talk to those who laid the world's rich and famous to rest.

Breaking Celebrity News can now reveal Nigel Enright was Princess Diana's Clifton Pollard.

The man who helped lower the royal into her grave spent weeks practicing for the event – using sandbags as a substitute for the royal's casket.

And years later, he is still haunted by the moment her sons said goodbye.

Enright was selected to be one of the bearers who carried Diana's coffin to her last resting place on an island at her family's Althorp estate in Northants in 1997.

He recalled the agony, "I couldn't help seeing her sons' faces. That's a memory that will never leave me. And Charles, too, it was unbelievable. It was the greatest and saddest honor I have ever had."

Nigel, who was 22 when he was asked to be one of Diana's pallbearers, also told how his team of eight soldier bearers trained for the sad duty by carrying a coffin packed with sandbags over a specially-built bridge until their shoulders ached.

They kept their mission secret the night before by posing as a rugby team on tour in their hotel. Enright also revealed how, for hours afterwards, the emotional strain of the day slowly caught up with them.

He was a private in the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment – of which Diana was colonel-in-chief – when she died. Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, asked the regiment to provide bearers for the private burial at Althorp following the emotional service in Westminster Abbey.

They had just returned to their barracks in Tidworth, Hants, after a tour of duty in Omagh, Northern Ireland.

Enright said: "We were just about to go home for the weekend when we were told all leave was cancelled. We knew it was something to do with Diana. Volunteers were asked for, irrespective of rank. The only criterion was that we had to be at least 6ft tall, which I was.

"When we were told that we were going to form the final bearer party, everyone wanted to be part of it. We ran to the parade ground and the regimental sergeant major carried out the selection process."

Enright, who went on to run an office refurbishment firm, was one of two privates chosen to take part.

He added: "We were told that what we were doing was totally secret and we should tell no one apart from closest family."

For the next two days, the bearer party practiced under the direction of Flight Sgt Gary Bennett of the Queen's Colour Squadron, RAF Regiment.

Using a coffin and sandbags, the team practiced their 100ft walk that crossed the wooden bridge to Diana's island grave.

Enright said: "We knew it was a lead-lined coffin and was going to be heavy, but we had no idea of the exact weight. We just keep going over and over it. We had to get it right. We could not let the family or the princess down."

The day before the funeral, the team went to a hotel near Althorp, claiming to be rugby players.

"It was perfectly believable as we were all big, strapping lads," Nigel added.

On the day itself, they spruced up their uniforms and carried on practicing.

"Our shoulders were all getting quite bruised. But it had to run smooth, just like clockwork," recalled Enright. "The coarse fabric hessian had been placed all along the wooden bridge to make sure we did not slip."

Enright was appointed one of the lead men on the coffin, stationed on the left-hand side.

He recalled: "As the hearse arrived and the flowers were taken out, my eye caught sight of one wreath which just had the word ‘Mummy' on it. It was from William and Harry.

"That's when the emotion hit me. It was the first of many times during the service that I fought back tears. My company sergeant major, Harry Wall, told us, ‘If you are going to cry, then just cry. This is an emotional day for all of us.'

"All of us had tears in our eyes. As we moved into position, it was eerily quiet. You could just hear the wind. We waited, and then out of the corner of my eye I could see members of the family as they arrived.

"I could see Charles walking with William and Harry. We had never rehearsed pulling the coffin from the car and still had no idea of the weight.

"There was a pause, which seemed like an eternity, then I put my hand on the handle of the coffin, and we gently pulled it out. We realized it was much heavier than anything we had practiced with. You could see the strain on the faces of the party. It was a massive shock."

Enright continued, "We carried the coffin across the bridge to the island and placed it on poles which were above the grave. I could see all the faces of the royals for the first time.

"I remember thinking, 'I must not look at them because if I do, I am just going to break down.' So I tried not to make eye contact. We all had tears in our eyes already.

"I also remember thinking, 'This is William and Harry's mom, and she is our boss and deserved our respect.' But as we gently lowered the coffin down, I couldn't help seeing her sons' faces."

He added, "It wasn't until it was all over that the emotion finally took hold, though. I don't mind admitting we cried and cried for hours when we were back at the stables we used as a base."

It was not the first time Diana had touched Enright's life. Twelve years earlier, when he was aged 10, he attended a parade of the Royal Hampshire Regiment, later to be merged into The Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment.

And Enright was lucky enough to shake Diana's hand when his dad Bernie and mother Norma, pushed him forward.

One of the young soldiers on parade that day was his elder brother Paul. Just 24 hours later, Paul lost an eye in an accident that ended his Army career.

As he recovered in the hospital he received a touching letter from Diana. Enright said: "It showed just what a marvelous caring person she was. She didn't know us from Adam.

"It is such a tragic and ironic coincidence that 12 years later, as a 22-year-old soldier, I was one of the last people to say a final goodbye to a great lady."

After the burial, Spencer sent Enright's commanding officer a thank-you letter, reading: "My sister would have been proud of her Regiment."

Dad-of-two Enright added: "I remember Diana almost every day. I still cannot get out of my mind how our lives crossed."