Always remembered. Prince William and Prince Harry have carried on Princess Diana’s legacy since she died on August 31, 1997. The young royals have stewarded the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and have given back to humanitarian charities like their famous mom once did.
William and Harry were 15 and 12, respectively, when the Princess of Wales died at age 36 after sustaining injuries in a car crash in Paris. Since then, they’ve fondly looked back at the time they shared with her through the years.
In 2017, the brothers commissioned a statue to commemorate what would have been the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death. It wasn’t for another four years, however, that the statue was officially unveiled.
“Today, on what would have been our mother’s 60th birthday, we remember her love, strength and character – qualities that made her a force for good around the world, changing countless lives for the better,” the dukes said in a joint statement in July 2021 as they reunited at Kensington Palace in London for the special occasion. “Every day, we wish she were still with us, and our hope is that this statue will be seen forever as a symbol of her life and her legacy Thank you to Ian Rank-Broadley, Pip Morrison and their teams for their outstanding work, to the friends and donors who helped make this happen, and to all those around the world who keep our mother’s memory alive.”
Both of the princes have made it their mission to preserve their mother’s legacy, even through the next generation of royals. In May 2015, William and wife Duchess Kate welcomed their second child, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, and six years later, Harry paid tribute to their mother with the arrival of his own daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
“Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet,” a statement on Harry and Meghan Markle‘s Archewell website read in June 2021. “Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honor her beloved late grandmother, The Princess of Wales.”
Though their mother isn’t around to meet her grandchildren, both William and Harry have ensured that their kids know how special Diana was. During the 2017 HBO documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, the Duke of Cambridge noted that he often tells his kids — Prince George, Charlotte and Prince Louis — about their late grandma.
“We’ve got more photos up around the house of her, and we talk about her a bit and stuff,” he noted. “And it’s hard because obviously Catherine didn’t know her, so she cannot really provide that level of detail. I do regularly, putting George and Charlotte to bed, talk about her, and just try to remind them that there are two grandmothers — there were two grandmothers in their lives. And it’s important they know who she was and that she existed.”
Scroll down to see more of the brothers’ most touching quotes about Diana through the years:
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Prince William and Prince Harry’s Most Heart-Wrenching Quotes About the Late Princess Diana
Always remembered. Prince William and Prince Harry have carried on Princess Diana’s legacy since she died on August 31, 1997. The young royals have stewarded the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and have given back to humanitarian charities like their famous mom once did.
William and Harry were 15 and 12, respectively, when the Princess of Wales died at age 36 after sustaining injuries in a car crash in Paris. Since then, they’ve fondly looked back at the time they shared with her through the years.
In 2017, the brothers commissioned a statue to commemorate what would have been the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death. It wasn’t for another four years, however, that the statue was officially unveiled.
“Today, on what would have been our mother’s 60th birthday, we remember her love, strength and character – qualities that made her a force for good around the world, changing countless lives for the better,” the dukes said in a joint statement in July 2021 as they reunited at Kensington Palace in London for the special occasion. “Every day, we wish she were still with us, and our hope is that this statue will be seen forever as a symbol of her life and her legacy Thank you to Ian Rank-Broadley, Pip Morrison and their teams for their outstanding work, to the friends and donors who helped make this happen, and to all those around the world who keep our mother’s memory alive.”
Both of the princes have made it their mission to preserve their mother’s legacy, even through the next generation of royals. In May 2015, William and wife Duchess Kate welcomed their second child, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, and six years later, Harry paid tribute to their mother with the arrival of his own daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
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“Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet,” a statement on Harry and Meghan Markle‘s Archewell website read in June 2021. “Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honor her beloved late grandmother, The Princess of Wales.”
Though their mother isn’t around to meet her grandchildren, both William and Harry have ensured that their kids know how special Diana was. During the 2017 HBO documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, the Duke of Cambridge noted that he often tells his kids — Prince George, Charlotte and Prince Louis — about their late grandma.
“We’ve got more photos up around the house of her, and we talk about her a bit and stuff,” he noted. “And it’s hard because obviously Catherine didn’t know her, so she cannot really provide that level of detail. I do regularly, putting George and Charlotte to bed, talk about her, and just try to remind them that there are two grandmothers — there were two grandmothers in their lives. And it’s important they know who she was and that she existed.”
Scroll down to see more of the brothers’ most touching quotes about Diana through the years:
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December 2022
Harry spoke candidly in Netflix’s Harry & Meghan about the struggles his wife went through ahead of their 2020 royal exit, comparing the intense public scrutiny to what Diana experienced before her death.
“I’ve lost a few friends in this process as well. … I mean, I came [to California] because I was changed. I changed to the point that I’d outgrown my environment. Therefore, this was the most obvious place to come,” he recalled in episode 6 as the couple began their new chapter in the U.S. “You know, it’s one of the places where I think my mom was probably gonna end up living potentially.”
The Sussexes also looked back on their February 2021 pregnancy announcement before welcoming daughter Lili later that year. “Once we announced it, I got two messages from two completely different people who sent me the front page of Valentine’s Day, 1984, of my mother announcing that she was pregnant with me. I was shocked. We had no idea. It was just a coincidence,” Harry said. “Or maybe not a coincidence.”
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July 2021
“Every day, we wish she were still with us, and our hope is that this statue will be seen forever as a symbol of her life and her legacy Thank you to Ian Rank-Broadley, Pip Morrison and their teams for their outstanding work, to the friends and donors who helped make this happen, and to all those around the world who keep our mother’s memory alive,” the royal duo said during the July 2021 unveiling of Diana’s statue at Kensington Palace, noting that their mother was “a force for good around the world.”
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May 2021
“I was in Balmoral when I was told that my mother had died,” William reflected while speaking at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in May 2021. “And yet alongside this painful memory, is one of great joy. Because it was here in Scotland – 20 years ago this year – that I first met Catherine.”
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March 2021
In a forward penned for a children’s book titled Hospital by the Hill, Harry admitted that the loss of his mother “left a huge hole inside of” him. “I want to assure you that over time that hole will be filled with so much love and support,” he continued. “You may feel alone, you may feel sad, you may feel angry, you may feel bad. This feeling will pass. and I will make a promise to you — you will feel better and stronger once you are ready to talk about how it makes you feel. … When a parent goes to heaven, I was told their spirit, their love and the memories of them do not. They are always with you and you can hold onto them forever. I find this to be true.”
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July 2017
During HBO’s 2017 documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, William said of grieving, “Slowly, you try to rebuild your life, you try to understand what happened. I kept myself busy, as well, to allow you to get yourself through that initial shock phase. We’re talking maybe as much as five to seven years afterwards.”
In the same film, William admitted that he “did really feel that [Diana] was there” with him when he got married in April 2011. “You know, there was times when you look to someone or something for strength and I very much felt she was there for me,” he said.
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July 2017
“If I’d known that that was the last time I was going to speak to my mother the things that I would — the things I would have said to her [would be different],” Harry said of his last conversation with his mom in Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy. “All I do remember regretting for the rest of my life how short that phone call is. Looking back now, I have to live with that for the rest of my life.”
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August 2016
“Time makes it easier. … I still miss my mother every day — and it’s 20 years after she died,” William said at Keech Hospice Care in Luton, England.
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July 2016
“I really regret not ever talking about [her death]. For the first 28 years of my life, I never talked about it,” Harry said during a conversation with Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand.
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March 2016
During an appearance on Good Morning America, Harry noted, “I hope she’s looking down, you know, with tears in her eyes, being incredibly proud of what we’ve established, I suppose. I’m sure she’s longing for me to have kids so she can be a grandmother again.”
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March 2016
“We will do everything we can to make sure that she’s never forgotten and carry on all the special gifts, as such, that she had and that she portrayed while she was alive,” Harry said of himself and William’s work while speaking to Good Morning America. “I hope that a lot of my mother’s talents are shown in a lot of the work that I do.”
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November 2015
“I knew there would always be a gaping hole that could never be filled,” the Duke of Sussex said during a visit to Africa’s Mamohato Children’s Centre in November 2015. “The children at the center were far younger than me, and of course, their situation was a great deal more challenging than my own. Nonetheless, we shared a similar feeling of loss, having a loved one — in my case a parent — snatched away so suddenly.”
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October 2015
William spoke at the Child Bereavement U.K. gala, noting, “What my mother recognized back then — and what I understand now — is that grief is the most painful experience that any child or parent can endure. As a father to two young children myself, I now appreciate it all the more.”
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January 2014
“Initially, there is a sense of profound shock and disbelief that this could ever happen to you,” William told the Daily Mail. “Real grief often does not hit home until much later. For many it is a grief never entirely lost. Life is altered as you know it, and not a day goes past without you thinking about the one you have lost. I know that over time it is possible to learn to live with what has happened and, with the passing of years, to retain or rediscover cherished memories.”
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December 2022
Harry reflected on his late mother’s life and legacy during Netflix’s docuseries Harry & Meghan, remembering how Diana spoke about her struggles in her 1995 BBC interview. “She felt compelled to talk about it. Especially in that Panorama interview,” he said. “I think we all now know that she was deceived into giving the interview, but at the same time she spoke the truth of her experience.”
He continued: “My mum was harassed throughout her life with my dad, but after they separated, the harassment went to new levels. I saw things, I experienced things. I learned things. The pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution. I remember thinking, ‘How can I ever find someone who is willing and capable to withstand all the baggage that comes with being with me?'”
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December 2022
“I don’t have many early memories of my mum. It was almost like, internally, I sort of blocked them out,” the prince confessed in an episode of Harry & Meghan, looking back on his childhood, which he described as being full of “laughter” and “adventure.”
However, one detail about his mother stood out. “But I always remember her laugh, her cheeky laugh,” he said. “Her always saying to me, ‘You can get in trouble, just don’t get caught,’ and I’ll always be that cheeky person inside.”
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January 2023
The Duke of Sussex recalled learning of Diana’s death from his father in his memoir, Spare.
“[Charles] sat down on the edge of the bed. He put a hand on my knee. Darling boy, Mummy’s been in a car crash. I remember thinking: Crash … OK. But she’s all right? Yes? I vividly remember that thought flashing through my mind,” Harry recalled of the heartbreaking moment. “And I remember waiting patiently for Pa to confirm that indeed Mummy was all right. And I remember him not doing that.”
While the BetterUp CIO initially believed that doctors could somehow “fix” his mother’s head wound, he felt something “shift internally” when he realized that the accident had been fatal.
“I began silently pleading with Pa, or God, or both: No, no, no,” he wrote in the book.
