Princess Diana’s Death Contributed To Prince Harry’s Rebellious Reputation, Royal Expert Says

Prince Harry didn’t immediately get over the pain of losing his mom, Princess Diana.

The Duke of Sussex developed a bad reputation growing up. Prince Harry was dubbed a “troublesome clown.” He used to drink in bars and party hard. He also smoked pot, which didn’t please his father, Prince Charles. In fact, the Prince of Wales “went mental” after learning about it.

Prince Harry also made headlines when he was photographed wearing a Nazi costume in 2005. In 2012, he made the front pages again after his nude photos from a game of strip billiards in Las Vegas leaked.

According to royal correspondent Chris Connelly, Prince Harry was in so much pain after Princess Diana’s death. He added that the loss and grief contributed to the way the duke behaved.

“He did a lot of stuff that was really not cool, not for a royal, not for anybody,” Connelly said in the 2018 documentary “The Story of the Royals.” He added that during those times Prince Harry was “in pain.”

He explained that the Duke of Sussex didn’t really acknowledge his pain. Also, the people around him were already worried, but they just advised him to stop thinking about his late mom.

“People were so worried about how upset he got when he thought about his mother that they said 'don’t think about your mother,’” Connelly continued. “That’s not an unwell-meaning thing to say to a child, but that pain manifests itself in there ways.”

It took two decades for Prince Harry to finally open up about the pain of losing his mom and recognize it. On Princess Diana’s 20th death anniversary in 2017, Prince Harry admitted that the People’s Princess’ death had “a quite serious effect” on his private and public life.

Prince Harry confessed that after losing his mom at age 12, he shut down all his emotions and added that it really affected his personal life and work. Thanks to the support of the people around him, including his brother, Prince William, who told him that he needed to deal with it, he was able to finally get over the pain.

Meanwhile, Prince William and Prince Harry were rumored to be feuding. The two princes were last seen together on Christmas day where they looked distant and ill-at-ease.