It’s been an emotional month for Prince Harry — and now, the 35-year-old royal is opening up about reliving the painful memory of his mother Princess Diana’s 1997 death, calling his grief a “wound that festers.”
“I think being part of this family, in this role and this job, every single time I see a camera, every single time I hear a click, every single time I see a flash, it takes me straight back,” he tells ITV News in an interview set to air Sunday. “So in that respect, it’s the worst reminder of her life as opposed to the best.”
The Duke of Sussex also discussed his mom’s legacy after her fatal car accident while being chased by paparazzi in Paris. She was 36 years old at the time, and he was just 12.
“Everything I do reminds me of her,” he says. “But as I said ― with the role ― with the job and the sort of the pressures that come with that, I get reminded of the bad stuff, unfortunately.”
The revealing interview is part of an ITV documentary, “Harry & Meghan: An African Journey,” which follows the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s recent trip in which Harry retraced Diana’s steps over two decades later during a walk through an Angola minefield.
“Being here now, 22 years later, trying to finish what she started, will be incredibly emotional,” he says.
In the same interview, Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, also expressed melancholy about the spotlight affecting her pregnancy and shaping her life as a new mom.
“I would say, look, any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable and so that was made really challenging,” says the Duchess of Sussex, 38. “And then when you have a newborn, you know? And especially as a woman, it’s really, it’s a lot. So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed it’s um … yeah.”
Markle, who gave birth to baby Archie in May, also thanked the interviewer, Tom Bradby, for asking how she is doing.
“Thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I’m OK, but it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes,” she says.
During an appearance at the WellChild Awards in London, Prince Harry also got choked up speaking about this time last year, when he had to keep Markle’s pregnancy a secret.
“Last year, when my wife and I attended, we knew we were expecting our first child, and no one else did at the time, but we did, and I remember,” he said with a pause. “I remember squeezing Meghan’s hand so tight during the awards, both of us thinking what it would be like to be parents one day.”
Prince Harry has been candid about his struggles with the media recently, lashing out at the British tabloid press for their “ruthless campaign” against his wife, comparing it to the way his mother was treated.
“I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces,” he wrote in a statement.