Prince Harry Opens Up About the Days Following His Mother's Death

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published 2 June 17

After years spent keeping understandably quiet about the sudden death of their mother Princess Diana, Prince Harry and Prince William are finally opening up about processing their grief.

In a new BBC documentary titled Diana, William explains his reasoning for baring all: "Part of the reason why Harry and I want to do this is because we feel we owe it to her," he explained. "I think an element of it is feeling like we let her down when we were younger. We couldn't protect her."

"I think it's never going to be easy for the two of us to talk about our mother," Harry adds. "But 20 years on seems like a good time to remind people of the difference that she made not just to the royal family but also to the world."

Harry also spoke about the days following Diana's death—saying the outpouring of love has stayed with him. "It was beautiful at the same time, and it was amazing. Now, looking back at it, it was amazing that our mother had such a huge effect on so many people. When you're that young and something like that happens to you, I think it's lodged in here, there, wherever—in your heart, in your head and it stays there for a very, very long time."

William and Harry were teenagers when Diana died at the age of 36 in Paris. The 20th anniversary of her death is on August 31.