Prince Harry spent many years looking for ways to find closure after the death of his mother, Princess Diana. One way he tried to accomplish this was by retracing the events that took place before Diana was killed in a car crash on August 31, 2007. Former royal butler Paul Burrell says the royal family stopped Harry before he did research that he might find distressing.
Princess Diana’s death was a theme throughout Prince Harry’s ‘Spare’
Host Loraine Kelly says there is “an awful lot of sadness” in Prince Harry’s book, Spare. She also notes a common “thread” running through the book. “That thread is his mom,” says Kelly.
“[Prince Harry] talks about very, very private things,” says Kelly during her broadcast. “He talks about what it was like being told that his mother had died. You can’t even begin to imagine how distressing that must have been.”
Burrell says it’s clear that Prince Harry is “a very angry, hurt young man.” He also says the duke is “still living those moments of when he lost his mother.”
The royal family stopped Prince Harry from researching Princess Diana’s death, says Paul Burrell
Kelly found it “heartbreaking” when she read about how Prince Harry retraced Princess Diana’s final moments. “One thing I found in the book that was absolutely tragic and heartbreaking was that fact that he retraced his mother’s final journey,” says Kelly. “He actually went in a car into that tunnel.”
When asked why Harry felt he had to do that, Burrell says the situation was “devastating.” He then reveals he has also taken that same trip into the tunnel Princess Diana traveled through before her death.
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“I’ve done it,” says Burrell. “And for me it was devastating. I can’t think what it would have been like for Harry to retrace her final moments. And he’s actually gone through the final steps as well. He’s gone to the hospital and done everything.”
Burrell says the royal family had to intervene and convince Prince Harry not to do deep research. There was concern he might find something upsetting.
“For a while, he wanted to research his mother’s death, says Burrell. “He was put off by the royals who said it’s been done to death; leave it.”
Paul Burrell doesn’t believe Prince Harry and Prince William found closure
Although Prince Harry stopped looking into Princess Diana’s death, Burrell doesn’t believe Harry and William have found closure. He thinks the brothers suspect there is something else they should know about how Princess Diana died.
“I think the boys still feel that there’s something that they don’t quite understand about their mother’s death,” says Burrell. “And remember, Harry is looking at all of this through an 11-year-old’s eyes.”
Burrell continues, “A boy who could not understand why his mother was no longer there. The mother that gave him the hugs, the mother that loved him to death. The mother that would write to him at school and say, ‘I’m coming down to Ludgrove this weekend just to stand on the touchline and watch you play football and give you a big squeeze. And I’ll fill your pockets full of chocolate.’ That was his mummy he missed, and nothing ever replaced it.”
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