Prince Harry has opened up about the grief he still carries for his mother, Princess Diana, revealing the heartbreaking question he asks himself almost 30 years after her death. In an interview with GQ in New York, the Duke of Sussex spoke candidly about how he misses her and the thoughts that play on his mind.
Harry, aged 41, discussed how he doesn't often dwell deeply on his feelings, but when he does, he wonders what life would be like if his mother were still here. He said: "I don't sit there—and I probably should—but I don't sit there and go really deep into how I’m feeling. It's just a quick, ‘Well, I miss you. I wonder what the world would be like if you were still here. I wonder what my family would be like if you were still here.’"
Connection with his mother
He continued: "So there are questions that I ask myself, and sometimes there are questions that I ask her, looking for some kind of response. And sometimes, I do get a response."
"Having done the work that I've done, there is a connection still with my mum that I do feel her energy at certain times, in certain parts of my life," he added.
Harry was just 12 years old when he lost his mother. He noted that people still come up to him and say, "I remember exactly where I was on that day in 1997, 31st of August".
Learning to live with grief
Elsewhere in the interview, Harry revealed that he has learned he will "never get over grief" but instead adapts to it. "You learn to live with it," he said. "And also, I’ve never wanted to get over the grief."
He explained his past struggle: "And that was where I was stuck many, many years ago, was the fact that if I give up on the grieving, does that mean I give up on the memory of my mother? And at the same time, if I become happy, is that a betrayal of her memory?"
Desire for reconciliation
The Duke of Sussex also expressed his wish to reconcile with his family. He has been estranged from the Royal Family since stepping away from royal duties, with tensions arising from his memoir and an interview with Oprah.
Speaking on family rifts, Harry told GQ: "Some people don’t want it to work out. I want it to work out. With everything else that’s going on in the world, the most important thing is to reconcile. That’s the key point."
He encouraged people to "let go of the past", but acknowledged that scars would "stick around forever". He said: "If there’s certain things from the past that’s still affecting your everyday, that’s harder to let go of. But yeah, for me, there’s enough drama in the world and enough drama in people’s lives than to continue with issues with family."
Diana’s biographer, Andrew Morton, said in an interview last year that the late Princess would have wanted her sons to make peace. "Diana always used to say she had two boys for a reason," he revealed. "The younger would be there to support the older in the lonely task as the future king." A Sussex spokesperson later clarified that Harry's comments were not meant as a swipe at Prince William or any members of the Royal Family.
