Prince Charles' skiing accident
In 1988, whilst on a skiing holiday, the Prince of Wales nearly died when his skiing group was hit by an avalanche. Although the Prince survived without injuries, sadly his friend Major Hugh Lindsay, who was the Queen's Equerry, lost his life. Major Hugh Lindsay was a close friend of the Prince and Princess of Wales and was also the husband of Sarah Lindsay who worked in the press office at Buckingham Palace; she was seven months pregnant with their first child at the time.
A day after the tragic accident, the royal party, with Major Hugh Lindsay's coffin, flew back to RAF Northolt in north-west London to a guard of honour from his regiment, the 9th/12th Lancers.
After his death, Prince Charles became a dutiful godfather to Sarah and Major Hugh's daughter and the Princess of Wales was a constant source of strength. Speaking to The Telegraph back in 2008, Sarah said: "The Princess was fantastic. She used to ring me every Sunday evening. She was a dear friend -someone I could ring at midnight and say: 'Life is pretty grim.' The Princess of Wales instinctively knew when I might be feeling down - the school holidays and so on. She always had nice ideas about how to cheer me up."
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