Prince Harry opened up about his grief (Image: MasterClass)
Prince Harry has opened up about how he reconnected to Diana years after her loss.
The Duke of Sussex appeared on the American educational platform MasterClass, in an episode entitled Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss.
The the open conversation Harry spoke about grief and growing up with the trauma of losing his mum, as well as a battle with depression later in life.
He also spoke about adulthood and his family life now.
The video sees Harry, 42, share that a therapist encouraged him to unlock his grief surrounding the loss of Diana.
He revealed he did not cry for almost 20 years after his mother’s death and thinks of her “pretty much every night and then most mornings”.
Harry with his mother Diana (Image: Georges De Keerle/Getty Images)
He added that his therapist urged him to find Diana’s perfume in order to unlock memories of her after he confessed having forgotten her voice.
Harry said the smell brought back floods of emotions and memories that he had long suppressed.
He said: “It was like being transported to another time.
“It unlocked everything that had been locked away.
“Spraying my mother’s scent was almost like knocking certain bricks through so that I could see through and certain memories and experiences could start seeping back.”
In the very personal episode Harry went on to add: “Everything I do, everything I put my energy towards, I hope that my mother will be proud of.
“Trying to continue and protect her legacy, what I didn’t realise was that the work I was drawn to was so similar to the work she was doing.”
Harry said a therapist helped him unlock memories of Diana (Image: Georges De Keerle/Getty Images)
The interview comes just weeks after the publication of Earl Spencer’s memoir about Diana, which ignited tensions between Harry’s uncle and the King as it featured claims Charles would ‘forget’ his former wife.
Harry continued to reflect on Diana’s death.
He said: “I didn’t cry when I was told my mum died, only at her burial, and then not again for nearly two decades.
“I was convinced that was strength, but it wasn’t. It was a 12-year-old boy with no permission to fall apart and no roadmap for how to heal.
“I’d spent so long emotionally numb because I felt disloyal and guilty at the possibility of being happy without her. I felt I had to stay sad and emotionally shut down to prove I missed her.”
He added that therapy helped change this outlook, saying: “The reality is that what I discovered was that she just wanted me to be happy.
“That was a huge mental shift for me. It freed me and gave me a completely different outlook on life.”
