What Prince Harry Still Remembers About Princess Diana

Although not quite a teenager at the time of Princess Diana’s death , there’s still a lot Prince Harry does—and doesn’t—remember about his later mother. Discussing his memory in Spare , the Duke of Sussex shared some of what he does remember about Diana, from her laugh to what she liked to eat.

Diana died when Harry was 12

On Aug. 31, 1997, Diana died following a car accident in Paris, France, along with Dodi al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul. Former bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the sole survivor and the only one who wore a seatbelt.

Diana’s final hours of life involved dinner at the Ritz hotel with al-Fayed after a day of being trailed by the paparazzi. Leading up to the crash, paparazzi followed their Mercedes into the Pont de l’Alma tunnel before it hit the 13th concrete pillar.

Diana died after being taken to a nearby hospital. She was 36 years old, having celebrated her birthday in July . Her death came just over two weeks before Harry turned 13. (His older brother, Prince William, was 15 at the time.)

In the days before his birthday, Harry walked behind Diana’s coffin, greeted many crying members of the public, and, as he shared in Spare , finally shed tears of his own when Diana was laid to rest at Althorp, her childhood home.

Harry called what he remembers about Diana a ‘miracle’

Harry opened up about some of the things he remembers about Diana—despite having a “spotty” memory—in his 2023 memoir. (The book will reportedly be released in paperback come October.)

“How could someone so far beyond everyday language remain so real, so palpably present, so exquisitely vivid in my mind?” he said (via Spare ). “How was it possible that I could see her clear as the swan skimming towards [sic] me on that indigo lake?”

He continued: “How could I hear her laughter, loud as the songbirds in the bare trees—still? There was so much I didn’t remember, because I was so young when she died, but the greater miracle was all that I did.”

“Her devastating smile, her vulnerable eyes, her childlike love of movies and music and clothes and sweets—and us. Oh how she loved my brother and me.”

Diana’s ‘presence’ is ‘constant’ for Harry

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Harry shared in a 2022 Today interview he’s felt Diana’s “presence” very much since moving to Montecito, California, in 2020. “For me, [her presence is] constant,” he said. “It has been over the last two years—more so than ever before.”

Harry also said he believed Diana helped him and Prince William as they each became parents. “It’s almost as though she’s done her bit with, with my brother. And now she’s very much back to helping me,” he said. “[She] got him set up. Now she’s helping me set up. That’s what it feels like, you know? He’s his kids. I’ve got my kids.”

Harry and Meghan Markle have Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3. Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales and Kate Middleton are parents to Prince George , 10, Princess Charlotte , 9, and Prince Louis , 6.

“You know, circumstances are obviously different,” he added. “But I feel her presence in almost everything that I do now. She’s watching over us.”

Aug. 31, 2024, is the 27-year anniversary of Diana’s death.