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The Heartbreaking Words Of Prince Harry After Learning Of Diana's Death

The Heartbreaking Words Of Prince Harry After Learning Of Diana's Death

How the Royal Family reacted.

Michael Minay

Michael Minay

No matter how much of a LAD you are, losing your mum will never be easy - particularly if you're from a family as close as the royals.

A new documentary, to be aired tonight, reveals the first words uttered by Prince Harry upon learning about the death of his mum, Princess Diana.

The 'People's Princess', as she was known, died on 31 August 1997, and the news shocked the country to the core.

Credit: PA

Credit: PA

Prince Harry, who has been vocal this year in his mental health struggles and recently spearheaded a 'speak out' campaign alongside his brother, Prince William, had to ask if his mum really had passed away.

The documentary, Diana: Seven Days That Shook The Windsors, looks at how the royal family tried to carry on as normal in the hours and days after Diana's death.

The princess' biographer, Tina Brown, looks at how the royals tried to remain calm for the sake of the two young princes - but Harry, still just 12 years old at the time, found it difficult to take in.

Brown said: "Prince Harry actually asked his father [Prince Charles], 'Is it true that Mummy's dead?'

"The children couldn't understand why everything was as normal, except a couple of hours earlier they'd been told their mother had died."

Credit: PA

The documentary explains that the royals' initial reaction to the news was to 'do as they had always done'.

Diana's sons were allowed to sleep in, rather than be woken and told of the tragedy, but such was the Royal Family's concern for them that mentions of Diana were banned from the church service at Balmoral that day (it was a Sunday).

The Queen ordered all TVs and radios in her residence in Balmoral to be moved or hidden, for the fears that the princes might be traumatised upon hearing details of their mother's death.

Ingrid Seward, a royal biographer, said: "The first thing we saw of the boys was when they were going to church for Sunday service.

"People were saying, 'How could they? These boys have just lost their mother.'"

Credit: PA

The two princes only agreed to walk behind their mother's coffin at the last minute after being persuaded by their father, Prince Charles, who wanted to walk.

The documentary also talks of how Diana's closest aides were forced to fashion a makeshift morgue, as high temperatures in a scorching summer meant the room where her body lay became unbearably hot - as well as being exposed to photographers.

Following the news, church attendances and calls to suicide lines both increased dramatically. There was also a National Grid power surge as the news broke, attributed to kettles and televisions across the nation being turned on at the same time.

Diana: Seven Days That Shook The Windsors airs tonight on Channel 5, at 9pm.

More recently, Prince William has appeared on BBC Radio 1 to talk about Heads Together - a charity encouraging young people to talk about mental health.

He told Scott Mills: "We've had an amazing time promoting mental health, but it's been really eye-opening for us as well - seeing how much this issue of mental health is really brimming under the surface of public consciousness.

"I equate it to a boiling pan of soup with the lid on, and we've effectively just taken the lid off. And people are taking the challenge of saying, 'You know what? I've been through this myself.'

"It's about trying to get people to have a conversation and realise emotions are not a bad thing. We've all got emotions and we need to talk about that."

'U OK M8?' is an initiative from LADbible in partnership with a range of mental health charities which features a series of films and stories to raise awareness of mental health.

Explore more here and don't suffer in silence. Reach out. It's the brave thing to do.

MIND: 0300 123 3393.

Samaritans: 116 123.

CALM: Outside London 0808 802 5858, inside London 0800 58 58 58.

Mental Health Foundation

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Mental Health, prince william, Royal Family, Prince Harry