Prince William has asked the Earl of Spencer to give a moving speech about his late mother, Diana, at his wedding to Kate Middleton.
Charles Spencer will talk about his late sister during the ceremony, the earl's eldest daughter Lady Kitty Spencer has told friends, reports the Daily Mail.
Lady Kitty, 19, could also be made one of Kate's bridesmaids as the prince tries to heal the rift between the Spencers and the royals, the teenager has claimed.
It is not clear whether the Earl's words would be delivered at Westminster Abbey on April 29, or during one of two receptions afterwards.
But the spectre of him returning to speak at the Abbey 14 years after he used his sister's funeral to launch a blistering attack on the way he believed the Royal Family treated her is likely to fill the Queen with foreboding.
In thinly-veiled digs during the 1997 eulogy, he spoke of how Diana, who had been stripped of her royal status, 'needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic' and said her sons should 'not simply (be) immersed by duty and tradition'.
William will check the wording to ensure there is no repeat of the speech, a source said.
Lady Kitty, a student, told a friend in her home town of Cape Town that William wants her father to 'represent his sister, and to talk about her at the wedding'.
"Kitty said Charles Spencer and William have a good, solid relationship and it's very important for William that his mother is at his wedding, so to speak. He made the point by giving his mother's ring to his future bride," a source close to Lady Kitty said.
It is understood that royal aides are due to meet the 46-year-old earl and members of the Spencer family in London before Christmas to discuss their involvement.
"The Spencers will inevitably have a prominent role at the wedding as guests - they are blood family after all. At the moment anything else is speculation, as Prince William and Miss Middleton have yet to make these sorts of decisions," a St James's Palace aide said.
Earl Spencer, through his solicitor, declined to comment yesterday. But last week he described the engagement as 'wonderful news'.
