The fifth season of The Crown chronicles royal life in the early to mid-1990s, offering a glimpse into the troubled marriage of Princess Diana and King Charles III.
The royal couple were married from 1981 to 1996. A year after her divorce, Princess Diana died from injuries sustained in a tragic car accident in Paris. she was 36 years old.
In an interview that Prince William and Prince Harry have given over the years, they recalled when they learned of their mother’s death.
In the HBO documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, Harry remembers his last phone call with Diana.
“What I would have told her if I knew this was the last time, what I would have told her. I just remember how short that call was and I regret it for the rest of my life,” he said. Told. “Looking back on it now, I’m going to have to live with it for the rest of my life.”
Here’s how Harry and William found out about their mother’s death.
Harry remembers how Charles broke the news to him and William
In the BBC documentary Diana, 7 Days, Harry recalls how he learned of Diana’s death and was proud to tell his father what had happened.
“One of the hardest things a parent has to do is tell their children that the other parent has died,” he said.
“How do you deal with that? I don’t know. But you know, he was there for us. He was one of the two left, and he did his best and we were protected.” “I tried to make sure he was taken care of,” Harry continued.
William said he remembers feeling “completely numb”, “disoriented” and “dizzy” at the news.
“You are so, so confused, and you keep asking yourself, ‘Why me?’ He kept saying, “Why? What did I do? Why? Why did this happen to us?”
William likened hearing the news to an earthquake.
In “Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy,” William explained his feelings after hearing that Diana had died.
“There is nothing like it in the world,” he said. “Not really. It’s like an earthquake has gone through your house and through your life and everything. Your mind is completely split. And it’s taken a while for it to really seep in.” .”
Scotland is the land of William’s ‘sadest’ memories
After Princess Diana’s death, Prince William was haunted by his memories of Scotland.
“Scotland is the source of my happiest memories, but also my saddest. In a speech at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, he said:
“Still in shock, I found sanctuary that morning at the service of Clancy Kirk,” William continued.
William later met his future wife, the ex Kate Middleton, while studying in Scotland.
Prince Harry then said he tried to ‘shut down’ his emotions
Prince Harry said he took Diana’s death very hard. In his 2017 interview with The Telegraph, the prince said he “shut down all emotions” after losing his mother.
“It’s safe to say that the loss of my mother at the age of 12, and having closed off all my emotions for the past 20 years, has seriously affected not only my personal life but also my work,” he said.
“When all kinds of grief, lies, misunderstandings, and everything come at you from every angle, I’ve probably come very close to total collapse.
Prince Harry and Prince William tried to talk ‘as much as they could’ about Princess Diana’s death
Prince William said his family tried to talk to him and Harry about what happened after he lost his mother.
“There was a family gathering and Harry and I tried to talk about it as much as we could,” he said in the HBO documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy. It was very difficult to express and understand how I felt.
Seven days after Princess Diana’s death, Prince William and Prince Harry attended her funeral, marching behind their mother’s coffin.
While speaking to Newsweek in 2017, Harry recalled how difficult that day was for him.
“My mother just passed away and I had to walk behind her coffin all the way. I was surrounded by thousands while millions were watching me on TV. was,” he said. “I don’t think you should ask your child to do that under any circumstances. I don’t think that’s going to happen today.”
This article originally appeared on TODAY.com.
