Prince Harry claims to have “blocked out” memories of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash when he was 12.
He told the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, which began streaming on Thursday, that he did not have many early memories of her, but did recall her “cheeky laugh”.
The prince and his wife used the programme to reveal how the royal family was “clouded” by her being an American actress and said they suffered racism from the outset of their relationship.
Archive footage of Diana and Prince Harry’s father — King Charles, who was Prince of Wales at the time — with the Duke of Sussex and his older brother Prince William at Prince Harry’s christening and during other arranged photo calls was shown in the tell-all series.
“My childhood, I remember, was filled with laughter, filled with happiness and filled with adventure,” he said.
“I don’t have many early memories of my mum. It was almost like internally I sort of blocked them out.
“But I always remember her laugh, her cheeky laugh, her always saying to me ‘You can get in trouble — just don’t get caught’.
“I’ll always be that cheeky person inside.”
Prince Harry also spoke about his experience of facing photographers as a child.
“The majority of my memories are of being swarmed by paparazzi,” he said.
He added that they rarely had a holiday without someone jumping out of a bush with a camera.
Princess Diana through the years — in pictures
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Ten-year-old Lady Diana Spencer during a summer holiday in Itchenor, West Sussex, in 1971. Here 'The National' takes a look back through Princess Diana's life in pictures. Getty -
Lady Diana Spencer, 19 at the time, responds to the press while getting into a car in London, in 1980. Getty -
The Prince and Princess of Wales on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on their wedding day, on July 29, 1981. Getty -
Princess Diana smiling as she prepares to embrace a woman in the crowd, on the streets of Carmarthen, Wales, in 1981. Getty -
Princess Diana and Prince Charles with their son, Prince William, in December 1983. Getty Images -
Princess Diana wearing the Spencer family tiara at state dinner in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1983. PA -
Princess Diana And Prince Charles watch an official event during their first royal Australian tour in 1983. Getty -
Princess Diana and Prince Charles with newborn Prince Harry, leave St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London, in 1984. Getty -
Princess Diana meets members of the public during a visit to a community centre in north London in 1985. Getty -
Princess Diana arrives at a dinner during a visit to Australia in 1985. AFP -
Princess Diana sits on a step at her home, Highgrove House, in Doughton, Gloucestershire, in 1986. Getty -
Prince Charles and Princess Diana and their sons, Princes William and Harry, on a cycle ride around the island of Tresco, Italy, in 1989. AP -
Princess Diana stoops down to pick up a walking stick after a woman she dropped it over the crowd barrier, during a walkabout in Hong Kong in 1989. Reuters -
Princess Diana waves on her way to visit US first lady Barbara Bush at the White House in Washington, in 1990. AFP -
Princess Diana and her sons onboard the 'Maid of Mist' ship as they take a close look at the Niagara Falls, Canada, in 1991. PA -
Princess Diana poses alone at the Taj Mahal during her visit to India in 1992. Getty -
Princess Diana holds the hands of Mother Teresa during their first meeting at the Missionary Sisters of Charity residence in Rome, Italy, in 1992. Reuters -
Princess Diana with her sons outside St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, in 1992. PA -
Princess Diana listens to a young boy during her visit to a home for children in Paris, France, in 1992. AFP -
Princes William and Harry applaud alongside their mother, Princess Diana, during a Five Nations rugby match between Wales and France in 1992. AFP -
Princess Diana speaks to Nepali children while touring a Red Cross project in the Himalayan foothills in 1993. AFP -
Princess Diana, Prince Harry and Prince William carrying their skis during a skiing holiday in Lech am Arlberg, Austria, in 1994. Getty -
Princess Diana, Prince Harry, Prince William and Prince Charles outside Manor House, on Prince William's first day at Eton College in 1995. Getty -
Martin Bashir speaking to Princess Diana in Kensington Palace during the infamous 'Panorama' interview that was aired by the BBC in 1995. Getty -
Prince Charles, Princess Diana and their children watch the march past on the mall as part of the commemorations of VJ Day in London in 1995. AFP -
Princess Diana meets with John Collins, a 51-year-old lung cancer patient, while visiting Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Hospice in 1996. AFP -
Princess Diana during a visit to Leicester, to formally open The Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and Arts, in May 1997. Getty -
Princess Diana, wearing protective body armour, visits a minefield being cleared by the charity, Halo, in Huambo, Angola, in 1997. Getty -
South African President Nelson Mandela and Princess Diana speak with the press after meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1997. AFP -
Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Earl Spencer, and Prince William watch as the coffin of Princess Diana is carried into Westminster Abbey, London, in September 1997. AFP -
Floral tributes for Princess Diana in front of Kensington Palace in London, in 1997. AFP -
Prince William places a bunch of flowers with the hundreds tributes already laid outside his mother's official residence at Kensington Palace, in 1997. AFP -
Prince William and Prince Harry unveil a statue they commissioned of their mother, at Kensington Palace in 2021, on what would have been her 60th birthday. PA
“Within the family, within the system, the advice that’s always given is don’t react. Don’t feed into it,” he said.
The Duke of Sussex said he and his wife were keen “not to make the same mistakes our parents did” while bringing up their children.
In part two of the couple’s tell-all Nextflix documentary series, they spoke about how the breakdown of their parents’ marriages had affected their approach to raising son Archie, three, and daughter Lilibet, one.
The Duchess of Sussex said: “There is so much from anyone’s childhood that you bring with you into the present. Especially when you are the product of divorce.”
Prince Harry added: “What is most important to the two of us is to make sure that we don’t repeat the same mistakes that perhaps our parents made.”
He spoke of being “pulled from one place to another” during his parents’ divorce.
“I think most kids who are the product of divorced parents have a lot in common, no matter what your background is.
“Being pulled from once place to another or maybe your parents are competitive, or you are in one place longer than you want to be or in another place less than you want to be. There is all sorts of pieces to that.”
