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Harry describes ‘guilt’ following his mother’s death in 1997


By PA News

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The Duke of Sussex has described the guilt he felt while walking outside Kensington Palace following his mother’s death.

In a clip from Harry: The Interview, which will be broadcast at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday, Harry speaks about his memories of meeting mourners following the death of his mother, the Princess of Wales, in 1997.

Harry also says that he cried once in the wake of his mother’s death – at her burial.

“Everyone knows where they were and what they were doing the night my mother died,” he tells presenter Tom Bradby.

Harry says that he cried once in the wake of his mother’s death (Tony Harris/PA)
Harry says that he cried once in the wake of his mother’s death (Tony Harris/PA)

“I cried once, at the burial, and you know I go into detail about how strange it was and how actually there was some guilt that I felt, and I think William felt as well, by walking around the outside of Kensington Palace.”

Harry described feeling the mourners’ tears on their hands when he shook them.

“There were 50,000 bouquets of flowers to our mother and there we were shaking people’s hands, smiling,” he says.

“I’ve seen the videos, right, I looked back over it all. And the wet hands that we were shaking, we couldn’t understand why their hands were wet, but it was all the tears that they were wiping away.”

He adds that he and William were unable to show any emotion as they met the mourners.

“Everyone thought and felt like they knew our mum, and the two closest people to her, the two most loved people by her, were unable to show any emotion in that moment,” he says.

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