William and Harry
Prince Charles (R) puts his hand on his son Prince Harry's (C) shoulder as his oldest son Prince William looks on after the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, was placed into a hearse September 6. Millions of mourners lined the streets of central London to watch the funeral procession. The Princess died last week in a car crash in Paris. Years after her death, William and Charles began speaking about the grief they felt at the time of their mother's death. Kieran Doherty/Reuters

Diana, Princess of Wales, died 20 years ago and left behind her sons William and Harry, ages 15 and 12, respectively. Both sons spent many years silent on the death of their mother. But in recent years, they've begun speaking out about the grief they felt at the time and continue to feel today.

“Losing a close family member is one of the hardest experiences that anyone can ever endure. Never being able to say the word ‘Mummy’ again in your life sounds like a small thing. However, for many, including me, it’s now really just a word — hollow and evoking only memories.”

-Prince William speaking at the reception for the Child Bereavement Charity (March 2009)

“What my mother recognized them —and what I understand now— is that lowing a close family member is one of the hardest experiences that anyone can ever endure. I can therefore wholeheartedly relate to the Mother’s Day Campaign as I too have felt — and still feel — the emptiness on such a day as Mother’s Day.”

-Prince William speaking at the reception for the Child Bereavement Charity (March 2009)

“Initially, there is a sense of profound shock and disbelief that this could ever happen to you. Real grief 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.”

-Prince William, writing in the Daily Mail (March 2009)

“I knew there would always be a gaping hole that could never be filled. 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.”

-Prince Harry at Africa’s Mamohato Children’s Center (November 2015)

“Losing your mother at such a young age does end up shaping your life massively, of course it does. And now I find myself trying to be there and give advice to other people who are in similar positions.”

-Prince Harry on Good Morning America (March 2016)

“I really regret not talking about [her death]. For the first 28 years of my life, I never talked about it.”

-Prince Harry to Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand (July 2016)

“Time makes it easier. I still miss my mother every day and it’s 20 years after she died.”

-Prince William to Ben Hines, 14, who lost his mother summer 2015 (August 2016)

“When you have something so traumatic as the death of the mother when you’re 15—as very sadly many people have experienced— and no one wants to experience, it’ll either make or break you. I wouldn’t let it break me, I wanted it to make me. I wanted her to be proud of the person I would become. I didn’t want her worried or her legacy to be that William and/or Harry were completely and utterly devastated by it and that all the hard work and all the love and all the energy that she put into us when we were younger would go to waste.”

-Prince William in the BBC documentary ‘Diana’ (August 2017)

“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done: that walk. It felt like she was almost walking along beside us to get us through.”

-Prince William in BBC documentary ‘Diana’ (August 2017)

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