William and Harry open up to BBC about Diana’s death

THE Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry are to speak for the first time in detail about the moment they heard news of their mother’s death, saying they feel it is their duty to share what really happened to protect her memory.

The brothers, who were 15 and 12 when Diana, Princess of Wales died, will speak candidly about the week following the Paris car crash, for a 90-minute BBC documentary.

In a clip shown at a BBC reception last night, the Duke said: “Part of the reason why Harry and I want to do this is because we feel we owe it to her.

“I think an element of it is feeling like we let her down when we were younger. We couldn’t protect her.

“We feel we at least owe her, 20 years on, to stand up for her name and remind everybody of the character and person that she was. Do our duties as sons in protecting her.”

Prince Harry added: “When she died there was such an outpouring of emotion and love which was quite … which was shocking. It was beautiful at the same time, and it was amazing, now looking back at it, it was amazing that our mother had such a huge effect on so many people.

“When you’re that young and something like that happens to you, I think it’s lodged in here – in your heart, in your head – and it stays there for a very, very long time.

“I think it’s never going to be easy for the two of us to talk about our mother, but 20 years on seems like a good time to remind people of the difference that she made not just to the Royal Family but also to the world.”

The documentary is part of a BBC season of factual programming.