Prince William Says It’s Taken Decades To Accept Princess Diana’s Death
Prince William says he's only just learned how to cope with the loss of his mother Princess Diana, who died 20 years ago in a car crash while fleeing paparazzi.
William, now 34 (Diana was just 36 when she died), says in a new interview with British GQ that being open about his pain in losing his mother has helped him mitigate some of his hurt. Still, it's been a long time coming.
"I am in a better place about it than I have been for a long time, where I can talk about her more openly, talk about her more honestly, and I can remember her better, and publicly talk about her better," he explains. "It has taken me almost twenty years to get to that stage."
William adds that watching the horror play out publicly made things especially difficult.
"I still find it difficult now because at the time it was so raw," he says. "And also it is not like most people's grief, because everyone else knows about it, everyone knows the story, everyone knows her. It is a different situation for most people who lose someone they love, it can be hidden away or they can choose if they want to share their story."
Now, William says there's one particular reason he misses his mother.
"I would like to have had her advice," he admits. "I would love her to have met Catherine and to have seen the children grow up. It makes me sad that she won't, that they will never know her."
William's brother, Harry, spelled out similar struggle during an April interview with The Telegraph, in which he described the long and winding path toward therapy.
“I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and sort of lies and misconceptions and everything are coming to you from every angle,” he said. “I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well.”
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