Prince Harry has said that he does not have many early memories of his mum, Diana, believing he has internally ‘blocked them out,’ but he shares one specific thing he cherishes from his memories of her
Prince Harry and his brother William have had to grow up in the shadow of their mum’s traumatic death.
Both princes embody many of Diana’s qualities and values and in Prince Harry’s and Meghan Markle’s Netflix series, Harry discusses his mum and what he remembers of her. The series aired in December 2022 and the Royal family braced themselves for what would be revealed.
The six-part docuseries contains a series of revelations and allegations about Harry’s mum Princess Diana, how Harry and Meghan met, why the Sussexes decided to walk away from their Royal life and much more which probably didn’t sit comfortably with the House of Windsor. During the series, Harry recalls one specific memory about his mum. Prince Harry has said that he does not have many early memories of his mum, Diana, believing he has internally “blocked them out.” Diana died in a car crash in August 1997, when Harry was just 12.
Harry told the Netflix show: “My childhood, I remember, or was, filled with laughter, filled with happiness, and filled with adventure. I don’t have many early memories of my mum. It was almost like internally I sort of blocked them out. But I always remember her laugh, her cheeky laugh. Her always saying to me ‘Look you can get in trouble but just don’t get caught’.” He added: “‘And I’ll always be that cheeky person inside.”
While not having many memories of his mum apart from the cheeky laugh, Harry remembers facing photographers as a child. He said there was rarely a holiday without a photographer jumping out of a bush: “The majority of my memories are of being swarmed by paparazzi. Within the family, within the system, the advice that’s always given is don’t react. Don’t feed into it.”
Throughout the first episode of the series, Harry compares his wife Meghan to Princess Diana. He says: “So much of what Meghan is and how she is, is so similar to my mum. She has the same compassion. She has the same empathy. She has the same confidence. She has this warmth about her.”
During that first episode, footage of a young William and Harry playing at a piano accompanied by their parents and interview footage of Diana talking about her two sons is also shown. William appears to tell Harry not to stand on his toe, and Diana says: ‘William. He’s a typical three-year-old. Very enthusiastic. Whereas perhaps Harry is more quieter and just watches.
