Prince Harry questions the unexplained death of the late Princess Diana. Image Source: Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Prince Harry questions the unexplained death of the late Princess Diana.
In his recent interview with Anderson Cooper’s 60 Minutes, Prince Harry opened up about his doubts about his mother’s unfortunate and unexplained passing.
Prince Harry shared that he never knew how to talk about their mother’s passing, adding that he never thought that maybe talking about it with Prince William or someone else could have helped him. The Duke also mentions in his book the time he was told that his mother had been in a car crash, mentioning that he was 12 years old and couldn’t shed a tear because he was in shock. He details that it was around 7:30 when King Charles III came to their room, put his hand on Harry’s knee, and told him that there had been an accident.
In his memoir, Harry stated that after King Charles III announced the news of Princess Diana's death, he did not hug Harry, rather placing his hands on his knee and telling him that everything would be okay, whereas, during the interview, Harry stated that nothing had been okay. Harry claims that his remembrances of the next few days are cluttered. But he recalls greeting grieving families outside Kensington Palace the day before his mother's funeral in London.
The Duke said that when he watches the videos of Diana’s funeral and sees him and William smiling, there is a guilt that he feels, adding that it is because the people they were meeting were showcasing more emotion than they were showing, maybe more emotion than they even felt. Harry noted that the individuals they did meet at the time had wet hands from clearing away their tears. He adds that one of the weirdest parts was taking flowers from individuals and then placing them with the rest of them, as though he were some sort of middleman for their grief. That stood out to him. Prince Harry recalls that the initial time he started crying was when his mother's coffin was lowered into the ground and that he never cried again.
Prince Harry revealed for the longest time, he simply refused to acknowledge his mother's absence, confessing that he assumed that it was all part of a plan and that she'd call him and William to join her. In his memoir, Harry wrote that he'd often say to himself first thing each morning, "Maybe this is the day, maybe this is the day that she'll make an appearance," to which he responded that it was true; he had great expectations of her making it back. He carried that optimism with him into his adult years. When Harry was 20, he requested to see the police statement on the car incident that killed his mother, her boyfriend, Dodi Al-Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul, when they were being pursued by paparazzi in a Paris tunnel.
Harry stated that he desired proof that Princess Diana was in the car, that she had been injured, and that the same camera crew who chased her into the tunnel were taking photographs of her half-dead in the backseat of the vehicle. He goes on to say that although looking through the photographs, all he saw was the back of his mother's head—slumped on the back seat of the car. There were also other, more brutal pictures, but he will be forever thankful to him for sparing him the agony of seeing them because that is the kind of thing that stays with you forever and ever. Harry claims that he didn't believe his mother still was alive until he was 23 and went to Paris for the first time.
The Duke returned to the same tunnel where his mother died, adding that he want to see if it was feasible to drive at the same pace as Henri Paul and lose control of a vehicle and bulldoze into a pillar and kill nearly everyone in that car. He should move ahead on this journey. He must take the same route. Harry writes that he and his brother were unsatisfied with the research results of a 2006 Metropolitan Police investigation, which concluded Diana's driver, Henri Paul, had already been drinking and the collapse was a "terrible event". Because there were so many gaps and holes in the inquest which didn't add up and did not make sense, William and he regarded reopening it.
Anderson asked Prince Harry if he begins to feel like he has all the explanations about what happened to his mother. No, Harry said, adding that he doesn't believe he has the explanations he appears to require and that he does not believe his brother does either. Prince Harry stated he does not believe the rest of the world does, but does he require any additional information than he already has? No. He doesn't believe it would have a significant impact.
Princess Diana with Prince William and Prince Harry. Image Source: ABC News
In retrospect, Prince Harry told Micahel Strahan in another interview that he wonders if his experience would have been different if he had been able to seek professional counseling after his mother died. He said that he wish he had the ability or opportunity to do some type of therapy, or at the very least to talk more about losing his mother and celebrating her life but mentioned that who knows if he would've said yes to that at the age of 12?"
Prince Harry has contrasted Meghan Markle's treatment by the media to Princess Diana's treatment by the media, which ultimately led to her early demise, noting that many events in Meghan Markle's life have impacted her in a manner that way that he views history repeating itself. In response, he asserted that he does not desire to be a single father and does not wish his children to grow up without their mother or father.
