Prince Harry on What Mom Princess Diana Would Think of Royal Exit: ‘I Think She Saw It Coming’
Diana #Diana
Prince Harry is opening up about what his mother, Princess Diana, would think about his exit from royal life.
“I think she would feel very angry with how this has panned out and very sad, but ultimately, all she’d ever want is for us to be happy,” Harry said in his sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday alongside wife and Meghan Markle.
“I brought what my mom left me,” he continued. “And without that, we would not have been able to do this, so touching back on what my mother would think of this, I think she saw it coming. I certainly felt her presence throughout this whole process.”
He also compared Meghan’s plight with that of his late mother’s.
“You know, for me, I’m just really relieved and happy to be sitting here, talking to you with my wife by my side because I can’t begin to imagine what it must’ve been like for [my mother] going through this process by herself all those years ago,” Harry said.
He also said, “My biggest concern was history repeating itself.”
During the interview, the Duchess of Sussex, 39, wore a bracelet that previously belonged to Princess Diana — the same bracelet that was used to help craft Meghan’s engagement ring.
When designing her ring, Harry, 36, took two diamonds from his late mother’s bracelet to include in Meghan’s three-stone ring. The couple wanted Meghan, who is expecting her second child, to wear the bracelet during the interview so Diana could be with them, PEOPLE has learned.
Princess Diana died in 1997 when her car crashed in a Paris tunnel while being chased by paparazzi.
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In October 2019, Harry spoke out about the “ruthless” treatment he said his wife was receiving in the British tabloid press in a rare statement.
“There comes a point when the only thing to do is to stand up to this behaviour, because it destroys people and destroys lives,” Prince Harry said. “Put simply, it is bullying, which scares and silences people. We all know this isn’t acceptable, at any level. We won’t and can’t believe in a world where there is no accountability for this.”
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“My deepest fear is history repeating itself,” Harry continued. “I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditised to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”
