Prince Harry revealed he is “eternally grateful” for seeing photographs of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, after she was killed in a car crash, and believes those responsible “all got away with it”.
In an interview to promote his memoir Spare, Prince Harry said after asking for evidence of her death, he saw photographs of his mother “slumped on the back of the seat”.
Diana was 36 when she was killed in the car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, while being pursued by paparazzi.
“The idea that she’d been taken away and that William and I were now motherless was something that I just couldn’t comprehend. I’d heard people talking about there being photographs," he told ITV’s Tom Bradby.
“By this point, I was starting to understand the involvement of the paparazzi chasing her and to this day, I will remain eternally grateful for Jamie [his private secretary] for showing me, what he believed I needed to see, but removing the stuff that he knew I didn’t need to see.
“I don’t know where I’d be now if I saw the stuff that I wanted to see, that I demanded to see.”
Prince Harry's ghost writer JR Moehringer - in pictures
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JR Moehringer is the US writer, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and novelist who ghostwrote Prince Harry's memoir, Spare. Getty -
Spare was released globally on January 10 -
Moehringer moved to Las Vegas to work on tennis star Andre Agassi's memoir -
Moehringer said he turned Agassi down several times before agreeing to work with him on Open. Getty / AFP -
Moehringer worked with Nike creator Phil Knight on his best-selling memoir, Shoe Dog -
Moehringer's own memoir about his childhood growing up on Long Island is called The Tender Bar, which was made into a film -
George Clooney directed the Hollywood version of Moerhinger's memoir The Tender Bar. Ben Affleck starred in it as Uncle Charlie. AFP -
Moehringer with actor Daniel Ranieri, who played his younger self in the fictionalised film version of his memoir. AP -
From left, Affleck, Lily Rabe, Daniel, Tye Sheridan and Christopher Lloyd arrive at the premiere of The Tender Bar in Los Angeles. AP -
Rabe and Affleck played a fictionalised version of Moehringer's mother and uncle in The Tender Bar. AP -
Daniel and Affleck in a scene from The Tender Bar. AP
Prince Harry said the “descriptive photographs” had been removed but in the images he saw the reflection “of all the paparazzi in the window” while his mother lay dying — the idea of which “still hurts”.
“I saw the back of her blonde hair slumped on the back of the seat," he said. "There were other photographs that would probably show my mother’s face and blood.
"And those, I assume were the ones that Jamie removed. And I’m grateful to him for that.
“I was looking for evidence that it actually happened, that it was true. But I was also looking for something to hurt, because at that point I was still pretty numb to the whole thing.”
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, through the years - in pictures
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Doria Ragland, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attend the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards in New York City. Getty -
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan attend a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies in Los Angeles in April. Getty -
The royal couple speak onstage at the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala in New York in December 2022. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan watch as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is placed into the hearse following the state funeral service at Westminster Abbey in central London in September 2022. AP -
Prince Harry and Meghan pay their respects at the Palace of Westminster. Getty -
Prince Harry, Meghan and Kate, Princess of Wales, attend a service for the reception of Queen Elizabeth's coffin at Westminster Hall. AFP -
The Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince Harry and Meghan meet members of the public outside Windsor Castle. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan leave after a service of thanksgiving for the queen. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York in September 2021. AP -
Prince Harry and Meghan on the cover of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world edition, in September 2021. Reuters -
Prince Harry and Meghan are interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. Reuters -
Prince Harry and Meghan shared this image on social media in February 2021 to announce they were expecting their second child. AFP -
Prince Harry and Meghan visit Canada House, London, in January 2020. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan visit Auwal Mosque on Heritage Day during their royal tour of South Africa in September 2019. Getty -
Prince Harry, Meghan and their son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor in South Africa in September 2019. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan meet Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Jay-Z at the European Premiere of Disney's The Lion King at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London, in July 2019. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan pose for a photo with the New York Yankees before their baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at London Stadium in June 2019. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan pose with their newborn son Archie in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle in May 2019. Getty -
Meghan, joined by her mother Ms Ragland, shows her new son to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle in May 2019. AP -
Prince Harry and Meghan officially open Number 7, a Feeding Birkenhead citizen’s supermarket and community cafe in Merseyside in January 2019. Getty -
Prince William, the Princess of Wales, Meghan and Prince Harry attend a Christmas Day church service at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate in December 2018. Getty -
Prince William, Prince Harry, Meghan and the Duchess of Cambridge attend a service marking the centenary of the First World War armistice at Westminster Abbey in November 2018. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan visit Redwoods Tree Walk in October 2018 in Rotorua, New Zealand. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan visit an exhibition of Tongan handicrafts at the Fa'onelua Convention Centre in October 2018 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan visit the University of the South Pacific in October 2018 in Suva, Fiji. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan address the public during a Community Event at Victoria Park in October 2018 in Dubbo, Australia. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan meet a koala during a visit to Taronga Zoo in October 2018 in Sydney, Australia. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan arrive at the University of Chichester's Engineering and Digital Technology Park during an official visit to West Sussex in October 2018. Getty -
The queen, Meghan, Prince Harry, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge watch the RAF 100th anniversary fly-past from the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan on their wedding day in May 2018. Getty -
Prince Harry places a wedding ring on his new wife's finger. Getty -
Meghan and Prince Harry head to their evening wedding reception at Frogmore House. Getty -
Prince Harry and Meghan walk through the corridors of the Palace of Holyroodhouse on their way to a reception for young people at the Palace in February 2018 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Getty -
Prince Harry and his then-fiancee Meghan visit Nottingham for their first official public engagement together in December 2017. Getty
Prince Harry told Bradby there were occasions when he was driving himself back into London and he had paparazzi “jump on the bonnet of the car”.
“I physically couldn’t see anything," he said. "When you’ve actually experienced the same thing, which you assume your mother’s driver was experiencing at the time, then it’s really hard to, I guess, understand how some people have come away with the conclusions of that night.
“And that the people that were predominantly responsible for it, all got away with it.”
Harry: The Interview is available to view on ITVX.
