Prince William and Harry reveal reaction to Diana’s death

Prince Harry has told for the first time how Prince Charles broke the news of his mother’s death.

In an emotional interview, he and Prince William also reveal their reactions to being told that Diana, Princess of Wales, had been killed in a car crash in Paris.

Opening up on the tumultuous seven days that followed the accident, the princes give a vivid account of how they had to conceal their devastation amid the extraordinary outpouring of public grief.

A BBC documentary, to be broadcast on Sunday, shows William and Harry speaking of their shock and bewilderment at the ‘peculiar’ scale of public mourning.

 

Prince Harry, pictured, will reveal how his father broke the news of Princess Diana’s death to him and brother William in August 1997 in a new BBC documentary, with the Royals telling of their heartbreak in candid interviews

The documentary, Diana, 7 Days, which airs on Sunday, also sees Prince William, pictured, open up about the decision to have the young princes walk behind their mother's coffin, as well as his final words to his mother over the phone

The documentary, Diana, 7 Days, which airs on Sunday, also sees Prince William, pictured, open up about the decision to have the young princes walk behind their mother’s coffin, as well as his final words to his mother over the phone

The documentary also explores the decision to keep the Royal Family at their home in Balmoral, Scotland, for a week after Diana's death, which led to widespread public criticism. Both William and Harry, pictured with father Charles on the way to church in Balmoral the day after their mother's death, said they respected their grandmother's decision to allow them to grieve in private

The documentary also explores the decision to keep the Royal Family at their home in Balmoral, Scotland, for a week after Diana’s death, which led to widespread public criticism. Both William and Harry, pictured with father Charles on the way to church in Balmoral the day after their mother’s death, said they respected their grandmother’s decision to allow them to grieve in private

Other startling revelations include:

  • How the Queen removed newspapers from Balmoral Castle so her grandsons would not be upset;
  • But the monarch was ‘hurt’ by the public criticism of her reaction to her former daughter-in-law’s death;
  • Discussions about whether Diana’s boys should walk behind her coffin went on until hours before the funeral itself;
  • Prince Harry, then 12, felt so traumatised by his mother’s death that he vowed never to cry in public for the rest of his life – but almost broke down when Elton John sang at her funeral;
  • Diana’s sister, Sarah, still anguishes over why her sister wasn’t wearing a seatbelt that night.

The princes also give a heart-rending account of having to walk behind Diana’s coffin at the funeral, with William recalling that he ‘just wanted to go into a room and cry’.

Paying tribute to his father for his attempts to comfort them in the aftermath of Diana’s death, Prince Harry says: ‘One of the hardest things for a parent to have to do is to tell your children that your other parent has died.

‘But he was there for us, he was the one out of two left and he tried to do his best and to make sure we were protected and looked after.

‘But, you know, he was going through the same grieving process as well.’ Harry says his reaction to being told the news was one of ‘disbelief’, and there was ‘no sudden outpouring of grief’.

William and Harry are pictured here saluting as they arrived at Kensington Palace on September 5, 1997, to find the residence surrounded by flowers and tributes to their late mother

William and Harry are pictured here saluting as they arrived at Kensington Palace on September 5, 1997, to find the residence surrounded by flowers and tributes to their late mother

A day before the family also inspected flowers and cards left in Diana's memory at Balmoral, pictured, after they attended a private church ceremony to pay their respects before the funeral

A day before the family also inspected flowers and cards left in Diana’s memory at Balmoral, pictured, after they attended a private church ceremony to pay their respects before the funeral

Diana was killed after the Mercedes she was travelling in crashed in a tunnel in Paris, pictured, killing friend Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul, who was later found to be drunk at the wheel and held responsible for the crash along with pursuing paparazzi by the official French investigation

Diana was killed after the Mercedes she was travelling in crashed in a tunnel in Paris, pictured, killing friend Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul, who was later found to be drunk at the wheel and held responsible for the crash along with pursuing paparazzi by the official French investigation

William says he was ‘disorientated, dizzy… and very confused’. He adds: ‘I remember just feeling completely numb. And you keep asking yourself “why me?” all the time. “What have I done?” ’

The documentary, Diana, 7 Days, marks the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death and tells the behind-the-scenes story of the week before her funeral. It features some of the major figures at the time including former prime minister Tony Blair, senior royal aides and Diana’s family.

In the film, the brothers praise their grandmother, the Queen, who faced an unprecedented public backlash for remaining at Balmoral with them in the dark days after their mother died on August 31, 1997.

‘I think it was a very hard decision for my grandmother to make. She felt very torn between being a grandmother to William and Harry and her Queen role,’ William says.

The documentary, made by respected US director Henry Singer, who made the documentary 9/11: The Falling Man, sees the princes speak with raw honesty about their emotions at the time.

It is the third television special one or both of the princes have spoken about their mother’s death on in recent months.

Meanwhile there have been another three major documentaries covering Diana’s death in the past few weeks that they were not involved in. 

Prince William, aged 15, and Prince Harry, 12, are pictured with their father Charles observing the mountains of flowers left in memory of Diana

Prince William, aged 15, and Prince Harry, 12, are pictured with their father Charles observing the mountains of flowers left in memory of Diana

Prince William said the decision for the brothers to walk behind the coffin was 'not easy' and described it as the 'hardest thing he has ever done'

Prince William said the decision for the brothers to walk behind the coffin was ‘not easy’ and described it as the ‘hardest thing he has ever done’

The Duke of Cambridge walked behind Diana's coffin along with brother Harry, father the Prince of Wales, uncle Earl Spencer and grandfather Prince Philip, pictured

The Duke of Cambridge walked behind Diana’s coffin along with brother Harry, father the Prince of Wales, uncle Earl Spencer and grandfather Prince Philip, pictured

Harry says of their return to London from Scotland: ‘People were grabbing us and pulling us into their arms and stuff. I don’t blame anyone for that, of course I don’t. But it was those moments that were quite shocking. People were screaming, people were crying, people’s hands were wet because of the tears they had just wiped away from their faces before shaking my hand.’

His brother describes the walk behind his mother’s coffin as ‘the hardest things I have ever had to do’.

He added: ‘I just remember hiding behind my fringe basically, at a time when I had a lot of hair, and my head’s down a lot.’

Aides say it is the first and last time the princes will speak about their mother’s death in such intimate detail. A Kensington Palace spokesman said they were ‘glad’ they had contributed to the documentary but wanted to concentrate on honouring her legacy rather than talk about the past.

Disorientated. Dizzy, disbelieving: Prince William and Prince Harry’s first and last words on their heart-wrenching dark days after their mother’s death

By Rebecca English, Royal Correspondent for the Daily Mail 

The torrent of grief at the tragic loss of Diana, Princess of Wales, was unprecedented, shaking the nation – and the monarchy – to its core.

For her devastated sons, it was a bewildering, and at times frightening, experience, as they make clear in a BBC documentary.

Speaking for the first (and, they say, last) time with heart-wrenching honesty about the dark days following Diana’s death, William and Harry, who were just 15 and 12 at the time, admit they struggled to cope with the ‘peculiar’ public reaction and the nation’s ‘odd’ desire to see them express their emotions in public.

Other revelations in the film Diana, 7 Days – to be shown on BBC1 on Sunday evening – include William talking about his mother’s ‘lonely and isolated’ life after her divorce.

Prince William and his brother Harry picked out the floral arrangement for their mother's coffin, according to their former Royal Protection Officer

Prince William and his brother Harry picked out the floral arrangement for their mother’s coffin, according to their former Royal Protection Officer

The arrangement of white roses contained a note from her sons, in an enveloped marked Mummy

The arrangement of white roses contained a note from her sons, in an enveloped marked Mummy

Prince William, pictured at his mother's funeral in 1997, has revealed he used his fringe as a 'safety blanket' to 'hide away' from the thousands of mourners

Prince William, pictured at his mother’s funeral in 1997, has revealed he used his fringe as a ‘safety blanket’ to ‘hide away’ from the thousands of mourners

Revealing how it was Prince Charles who broke the news of their mother’s death to them at Balmoral, Harry also hints at the hitherto unexplored depths of his father’s own suffering, despite his bitter divorce from Diana.

And the brothers praise their grandmother, the Queen, for doing everything within her power to protect them – even removing copies of the newspapers from the castle each day – and insisting, despite intense public pressure, that they remain in Scotland to come to terms with their loss.

This is how William and Harry reveal in their own words the aching depth of their loss and how they battled to juggle their private anguish with their duty during such an extraordinary and historic time.

THE LAST TIME THEY SPOKE TO DIANA 

In August 1997 they were on holiday at Balmoral with their grandmother and had not seen their mother for almost a month. Shortly before she died, Diana rang the castle to speak to her sons. William tells the documentary: ‘She was away abroad.

WILLIAM: PANORAMA INTERVIEW WAS A DESPERATE ACT 

Diana’s notorious Panorama interview about the state of her marriage was an act of desperation, Prince William said.

William said he understood why his mother had wanted to speak out, to address lies about the breakdown of her marriage to Prince Charles.

Speaking for the first time about the interview, in which Diana laid bare her anguish over her husband’s relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, the Duke of Cambridge appeared sympathetic to his mother’s decision.

He said: ‘I can understand – having been in those situations – you feel incredibly desperate and it is very unfair that things are being said that are untrue.

‘The easiest thing to do is just to say or go to the media yourself. Open that door. [But] once you’ve opened it you can never close it again.’

Charles and Diana separated in 1992 after an 11-year marriage. In her 1995 Panorama interview, Diana garnered public sympathy when she said Charles’s relationship with Camilla meant there were ‘three of us in this marriage’.

‘I remember getting a phone call at the time and you think it’s just a parent ringing up to have a chat and I think both Harry and I spoke to her and said we were missing her, and we wish you were back and lots of stuff.’

Harry adds: ‘I think it was probably about teatime for us. And I was a typical young kid running around playing games with my brother and cousins and being told “Mummy’s on the phone, mummy’s on the phone” and was like, “Right, I just really want to play”. And if I had known that was the last time I was going to speak to her the conversation would have gone in a very different direction.

‘And I had to live with that for the rest of my life, knowing that I was that 12-year-old boy wanting to get off the phone and wanting to go and run around and play games rather than speak to my mum.’

HOW CHARLES BROKE THE NEWS 

Although both princes refused to discuss in detail the moment they were told, saying it was too personal and private to discuss, Harry does reveal it was his father who came to them to break the news.

He says: ‘One of the hardest things for a parent to have to do is to tell your children that your other parent has died.

‘How you deal with that, I don’t know. But he was there for us, he was the one out of two left. And he tried to do his best to make sure we were protected and looked after.

‘He was going through the same grieving process as well.’

Asked about his feelings, he adds: ‘Disbelief. Refuse to accept it. There was no sudden outpour of grief, of course there wasn’t. I don’t think anybody in that position at that age would be able to understand the concept of what it actually means going forward.’ William vividly recalls how he felt. 

‘I remember just feeling completely numb. Disorientated, dizzy, and you feel very, very confused. And you keep asking yourself “Why me?” all the time. What have I done? Why has this happened to us?’

PRAISE FOR THEIR GRANDMOTHER 

Both are generous in their praise for the Queen, who was criticised at the time for staying at Balmoral with them and failing to make any public pronouncement on Diana’s death.

It also took several days for her to agree to lower the Union flag at Buckingham Palace to half-mast as an acknowledgement of the nation’s loss because, in the words, of one courtier, ‘she hadn’t even done it for her father [George VI]’. For William and Harry, however, the Queen’s presence in Scotland was invaluable.

‘At the time my grandmother wanted to protect her two grandsons, and my father as well,’ William says.

‘Our grandmother deliberately removed the newspapers so there was nothing in the house at all so we didn’t know what was going on.

Buckingham Palace came under fire in the days after Princess Diana was killed when there was no flag flown at half mast in respect to the late royal

Buckingham Palace came under fire in the days after Princess Diana was killed when there was no flag flown at half mast in respect to the late royal

One of The Queen's former aides has revealed she was deeply hurt by public criticism over how she handled Princess Diana's death. She is pictured with Prince Philip in Balmoral on August 31, the day of Diana's death, and the Royals were criticised for staying in Scotland for another week rather than returning to Buckingham Palace

One of The Queen’s former aides has revealed she was deeply hurt by public criticism over how she handled Princess Diana’s death. She is pictured with Prince Philip in Balmoral on August 31, the day of Diana’s death, and the Royals were criticised for staying in Scotland for another week rather than returning to Buckingham Palace

Scores of mourners gathered outside the palace, four days after her death, and the absence of a flag continued to raise concerns and cause the public to go against The Queen

Scores of mourners gathered outside the palace, four days after her death, and the absence of a flag continued to raise concerns and cause the public to go against The Queen

The Queen, pictured, eventually returned to London in September and was greeted by huge swathes of the public who had come to pay tribute to Diana

The Queen, pictured, eventually returned to London in September and was greeted by huge swathes of the public who had come to pay tribute to Diana

‘And back then, obviously, there were no smartphones or anything like that so you couldn’t get your news, and thankfully at the time to be honest, we had the privacy to mourn and collect our thoughts and to have that space away from everybody. We had no idea that the reaction to her death would be quite so huge.

‘I think it was a very hard decision for my grandmother to make. She felt very torn between being a grandmother to William and Harry and her Queen role. 

‘Everyone was surprised and taken aback by the scale of what happened and the nature of how quickly it happened, plus the fact that she had been challenging the Royal Family for many years beforehand.’

Harry adds: ‘It was a case of how do we let the boys grieve in privacy, but at the same time when is the right time for them to put on their prince hats and carry out duties to mourn not just their mother, but the Princess of Wales… and a very public audience.’

HAVING TO GO TO CHURCH HOURS LATER 

A few hours after being told Diana had died, William and Harry appeared in public for the first time when they went to Crathie Kirk, a local church, with the Royal Family.

Although there was huge public interest in seeing them, many reacted with horror that the princes had been put through such a public ordeal as they struggled to come to terms with their loss.

Both make no bones about the fact that this was an incredibly difficult experience for them – it was ‘the last thing’ he wanted to do, Harry says –although now, as adults, they acknowledge it was part of their public role.

Prince Harry is pictured holding his father's hand as they look through cards and flowers left in tribute to Diana. The brothers also talk on the documentary at how going to church just hours after learning of their mother's death was 'the last thing they wanted to do'

Prince Harry is pictured holding his father’s hand as they look through cards and flowers left in tribute to Diana. The brothers also talk on the documentary at how going to church just hours after learning of their mother’s death was ‘the last thing they wanted to do’

William, pictured with his family at Balmoral, said he put his game face on when they examined flowers outside Balmoral when 'all he wanted to do was cry'

William, pictured with his family at Balmoral, said he put his game face on when they examined flowers outside Balmoral when ‘all he wanted to do was cry’

William describes how he put his ‘game face on’, when all he wanted to do was cry in private, as they examined some of the floral tributes left outside the gates at Balmoral.

‘There were quite a few flowers there and people,’ he says.

‘I remember looking at the flowers and the notes that were left and was very touched by it but none of it sunk in.

‘All I cared about was that I had lost my mother and I didn’t want to be where I was.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: SONS’ DEEPLY TOUCHING MEMORIES OF THEIR MOTHER 

On Charles telling them their mother was dead:

William: I remember just feeling completely numb. Disorientated, dizzy… And you keep asking yourself, “Why me?” all the time.

Harry: One of the hardest things for a parent to do is to tell your children that your other parent has died. But he was there for us.

On the crowds: 

William: Everyone was crying and wailing and wanting to touch us.

Harry: It was so unusual for people to see young boys like that not crying when everybody else was crying.

On following the coffin:

William: I think the hardest thing was that walk. I remember just hiding behind my fringe. It was just like a tiny bit of a safety blanket… I felt like she [Diana] was walking alongside us to get us through it. on the FUNERAL…

Harry: Elton John’s song was incredibly emotional. That was part of this whole trigger system that nearly brought me to the point of crying in public which I am glad I didn’t do.

William: She loved Harry and I. Even after 20 years, I still feel that love. If I can be even a fraction of what she was I will be proud and hopefully make her proud.

‘When we go out and do things like that and not completely breakdown you have to put on a bit of a game face.

‘You have to be quite strong about it otherwise you are a walking mess. And so Harry and I, at that age, all we understood was the duty, family point. ‘

Harry adds: ‘I don’t remember the service but I sure remember coming back in the car and stopping and getting out at the front gates to Balmoral.

‘Looking back the last thing I wanted to do was read what other people were saying about our mother. Yes, it was amazing, it was incredibly moving to know but at that point I wasn’t there, I was still in shock.

The Queen made a special public address, pictured, on September 5 to share her family's grief with the nation, and agreed to make the speech because of her 'sense of duty'

The Queen made a special public address, pictured, on September 5 to share her family’s grief with the nation, and agreed to make the speech because of her ‘sense of duty’

‘I was wearing a tiny little strange blazer with a horrible tie, and to read other people’s outpouring of grief was quite odd when you are in a position almost as if people are expecting you to grieve in public. To whose benefit would that be?

‘Looking back on it I’m glad that I never cried in public because there was a fine line between work and grieving while working and grieving in private. Even if someone tried to get me to cry in public I couldn’t, and probably still can’t. What happened then has changed me in that sense.’

THE RETURN TO LONDON 

For both brothers, meeting the thousands of well-meaning members of the public mourning their mother was a difficult experience. They had returned to the London to be confronted by what ‘seemed like more than a hundred thousand bunches of flowers scattered from the gates at Kensington Palace’.

Indeed, William goes so far as to describe the screaming, wailing and desire to touch them as ‘peculiar’ and ‘unusual’.

QUEEN ‘DEEPLY HURT’ BY CRITICISM  

The Queen was deeply hurt by public criticism of her handling of Diana’s death, according to a former senior courtier.

But she agreed to address the nation because of her sense of duty, said Sir Malcolm Ross, who was in charge of organising the funeral.

He said the monarch felt her priority lay with her grandsons in Scotland and she and her staff were upset at the surge of feeling against them. Despite this, he said, it was the Queen who decided to honour Diana with a royal funeral.

Sir Malcolm added that she agreed to break with a centuries-old tradition by lowering the Union flag at the Palace. He said: ‘I knew the Queen would be very strong in her views. She didn’t lower the standard on the death of her father.’ 

Diana’s sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, also praised her, saying: ‘If you were grandmother of a 12-year-old and 15-year-old whose mother had just been killed… she did absolutely the right thing.’

And former prime minister Tony Blair told the BBC1 documentary that the Queen was ‘obviously very sad about Diana’.

He says: ‘Everyone was crying and wailing and wanting to touch us. It was very peculiar but obviously very touching. Again, I was 15 and Harry was 12, nothing can really describe it. It was very unusual.

‘People wanted to grab us, to touch us. They were shouting, wailing, literally wailing at us, throwing flowers and yelling and sobbing and breaking down. They were fainting and collapsing.’

For Harry the moment was clearly traumatic and one that he struggles with, even now.

‘People were grabbing us and pulling us into their arms and stuff. I don’t blame anyone for that, of course I don’t. 

‘But it was those moments that were quite a shocking. People were screaming, people were crying, people’s hands were wet because of the tears they had just wiped away from their faces before shaking my hand.

‘It was so unusual for people to see young boys like that not crying when everybody else was crying. What we were doing was being asked of us was verging on normal then, but now…. Looking at us then, we must have been in just this state of shock.’

For William, it was a case of grin and bear it – anything to get through the next few days. ‘We didn’t really talk about it that much. It was “Right, here we go again”. 

‘But walking back in behind closed doors, there was a lot of hunkering down going on, just trying to survive and get through it,’ he recalls.

Later in the documentary, when referring to the tunnel of grief he faced as he walked behind his mother’s coffin, William adds: ‘It was a very alien environment.

‘I couldn’t understand why everyone wanted to cry as loud as they did and show such emotion as they did when they didn’t really know our mother.

‘I did feel a bit protective about that at times. You didn’t even know her – why and how are you so upset? Now looking back, I have learnt to understand what it was she gave the world and what she gave a lot of people. Back in the Nineties there weren’t many other public figures doing what she did. She was this ray of light in a fairly grey world.’

WALKING BEHIND THE COFFIN 

For both William and Harry, this was, without a shadow of a doubt, the most agonising part of the day they said goodbye to their mother.

According to former prime minister Tony Blair and his then aide, Alastair Campbell, discussions about whether the children should do it went right to the wire.

Neither prince reveals who first made the suggestion and they clearly are at pains to not to apportion blame or to criticise.

William, pictured at the funeral, said he felt if he looked at the floor 'his hair came down and no one could see him', adding he used his locks as a 'safety blanket'

William, pictured at the funeral, said he felt if he looked at the floor ‘his hair came down and no one could see him’, adding he used his locks as a ‘safety blanket’

In a new documentary, the Prince told the BBC the walk was 'very long and lonely' despite having his family around him

In a new documentary, the Prince told the BBC the walk was ‘very long and lonely’ despite having his family around him

Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles follow the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, into Westminster Abbey

Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles follow the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, into Westminster Abbey

But it is clear that following their mother’s cortege was an experience that haunts them to this day.

‘It wasn’t an easy decision and it was sort of a collective family decision to do that. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done,’ says William.

‘But we were overwhelmed by how many people turned out, I mean it was just incredible.

SHE ALWAYS WORE A SEATBELT, SAYS DIANA’S SISTER 

Lady Sarah McCorquodale said she remained haunted by her sister’s uncharacteristic failure to wear a seatbelt.

The 62-year-old said Diana was ‘religious’ about wearing seatbelts and questioned why she would have failed to do so on the car journey in Paris.

Neither Diana nor her partner Dodi Fayed, nor their chauffeur Henri Paul were wearing seatbelts when their car smashed into a pillar in an underpass and all three were killed.

Diana's sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale pictured centre with her sister Lady Jane Fellowes, left, and Prince Charles, right, leaving the hospital she died at in Paris 

Diana’s sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale pictured centre with her sister Lady Jane Fellowes, left, and Prince Charles, right, leaving the hospital she died at in Paris 

Lady Sarah said: ‘She was religious in putting on her seatbelt. Why didn’t she put it on that night? I’ll never know.’

Diana’s bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, who wore a seatbelt, survived with serious injuries. A 2008 inquest found the failure to wear a seatbelt had contributed to Diana’s death, although it identified Henri Paul’s driving as the main cause.

Diana’s oldest sister also told of her torment at hearing broadcasters reporting that Diana was injured but expected to recover, when her family knew she had died.

‘It was that balance between duty and family and that was what we had to do. I think the hardest thing was that walk. It was a very long, lonely walk. But then again the balance.

‘Between me being Prince William and having to do my bit versus the private William who just wanted to just go into a room and cry [having] just lost his mother.’

The prince describes how he tried to hide behind his hair to shut out what he was seeing, a gesture so evocative of his mother.

‘I remember just hiding behind my fringe, basically,’ he says.

Finally: On the day of Princess Di's funeral, Buckingham Palace finally erected a Union Jack at half mast in her honour, with The Queen making the decision, according to a former aide

Finally: On the day of Princess Di’s funeral, Buckingham Palace finally erected a Union Jack at half mast in her honour, with The Queen making the decision, according to a former aide

Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother stand outside Westminster Abbey, pictured, with members of the clergy ahead of Diana's funeral

Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother stand outside Westminster Abbey, pictured, with members of the clergy ahead of Diana’s funeral

Mourners lined the M1 Motorway to pay their respects to Diana as her coffin was driven to Althorp House, where she was buried in the grounds

Mourners lined the M1 Motorway to pay their respects to Diana as her coffin was driven to Althorp House, where she was buried in the grounds

‘At the time I had a lot of hair and kept my head down a lot. I just hid behind my fringe. It was just like a tiny bit of a safety blanket.

‘I know that sounds ridiculous but at the time I felt if I looked at the floor with my hair over my face no one could see me.

‘It sounds ridiculous now but at the time it was important to me to get through the day.’

Harry, who said earlier this year that he believed he and his brother should never have been asked to follow the coffin, appears to have adopted a more conciliatory tone.

He says: ‘I think it was a group decision. Before I knew it found myself in a situation with a suit on and a black tie, a white shirt, I think, and I was part of it. Generally I don’t have an opinion on whether that was right or wrong. I am glad I was part of it.

‘Looking back on it now I am very glad I was part of it.’

PAPARAZZI ‘WERE LIKE A PACK OF DOGS’ 

The paparazzi photographers who ‘harassed’ Diana were condemned by her sons in the documentary. 

The Duke of Cambridge said a ‘pack’ would hound and chase his mother, spitting at the royal and calling her names.

William said people today would find the treatment of his mother ‘utterly appalling’. 

And Harry alleged that those who pursued her car on the night she died in a Paris car crash took pictures of his mother as she lay dying in the wreckage. 

Harry says: ‘I think one of the hardest things to come to terms with is the fact that the people who chased her into the tunnel were the same people who were taking photographs of her while she was still dying …’

Meanwhile William recalls how ‘every single time she went out there would be a pack of people waiting for her.

‘And I mean it, [they were] like a pack of dogs that followed her, chased her, harassed her, called her names, spat at her, tried to get a reaction to get that photograph … Get her upset.’

His memory of the day, he says, was hearing people screaming in the crowds.

‘To this day I can’t remember what I was thinking. I was so focused on getting it done and doing everything that was asked of me there and then and making sure I did my mother proud.’

THE FUNERAL SERVICE 

Throughout the documentary, Harry refers to his determination then, and now, never to cry in public. But when Elton John performed his new version of Candle In The Wind – Goodbye England’s Rose – as a tribute to his mother, he admits he almost crumbled.

‘When the shutters came down and I refused to let myself down about the fact that my mother had died, there were certain things that were like someone firing an arrow straight into that barrier and the head of it getting through,’ Harry says. ‘Elton John’s song was incredibly emotional.

‘That was part of this whole trigger system that nearby brought me to the point of crying in public, which I am glad I didn’t do.’

A TRIBUTE TO DIANA 

Both brothers pay an emotional tribute to their mother.

‘She loved Harry and I. Even after 20 years, sitting here, I still feel that love, I still feel that warmth 20 years on, which is a huge testament to her,’ William says.

‘She had such warmth, she wanted to make people feel special. She realised she was in a unique position and could make people smile and feel better about themselves.

‘If I can be even a fraction of what she was, I will be proud and hopefully make her proud.’

There is little doubt that although she has been absent from their lives longer than she was in them, Diana is still the biggest influence on everything her sons say and do.’

William concurs, saying: ‘When you have something so traumatic as the death of your mother when you are 15 it will either make or break you. And I wouldn’t let it break me. I wanted it to make me.

‘I wanted her to be proud of the person I would become and I didn’t want her worried or her legacy to be [that] William and Harry were completely and utterly devastated about it.’

Harry says that the best lesson he learnt from her was to ‘be yourself in everything you do and just give as much as you can’.

‘When you are that young and something like that happens to you I think it is lodged in your heart and your head and stays there for a very, very long time,’ he admits.

‘Years after, I spent a long time of my life with my head buried in the sand thinking I don’t want to be Prince Harry, I don’t want this responsibility, I don’t want this role. Look what’s happened to my mother, why does this have to happen to me?

‘Now all I want to do is fill the holes that my mother has left. That’s what it is about for us.

‘Making a difference and making her proud.

‘She was the Princess of Wales and stood for so many things, but deep down for us she was our mother and we will miss our mother and wonder every single day what it would be like having her around.’

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