Prince William and Prince Harry have lifelong regret about the length of the last phone call they shared with their mother, Harper’s Bazaar reports.
“At the time Harry and I were running around minding our own business, you know, playing with our cousins and having a very good time,” William recalled in a new TV documentary that commemorates the 20th anniversary of her death. The brothers were in Balmoral in 1997 when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris.
The Duke and Prince Harry are pleased to share 3 photographs from the personal photo album of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. pic.twitter.com/mUhzQB08TV
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) July 23, 2017
“As a kid I never enjoyed speaking to my parents on the phone,” Prince Harry said. “And we spent far too much time speaking on the phone rather than speaking to each other, because of just the way the situation [the divorce] was.”
“And the phone rang and off he [William] went to go and speak to her sort of for five minutes.”
The Duke on the 20th anniversary year: “It feels like a good time to remember all the good things about her.” pic.twitter.com/Nu338JbBLY
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) July 23, 2017
William continued: “And I think Harry and I were just in a desperate rush to say goodbye, you know, see you later and we’re going to go off,” William said, acknowledging that he remembered the conversation, but preferred to keep the details private.
“If I’d known now obviously what was going to happen I wouldn’t have been so blasé about it and everything else. But that phone call sticks in my mind quite, quite heavily.”

Prince Harry said: ”I can’t really necessarily remember what I said, but all I do remember is probably, you know, regretting for the rest of my life how short the phone call was.”
Watch TRH share some of their favourite memories of their late mother.
Prince Harry: “She was one of the naughtiest parents!” pic.twitter.com/zKIcZbe4rf
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) July 23, 2017
“And if I’d known that that was the last time I was going to speak to my mother the things I would have said to her,” Harry said. “Looking back on it now, it’s incredibly hard. I have to sort of deal with that for the rest of my life…Not knowing that that was the last time I was going to speak to my mum, and how differently that conversation would have panned out if I’d had even the slightest inkling that her life was going to be taken that night.”
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