Princess Diana, boyfriend Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul died in a 1997 car wreck in a Paris tunnel while being pursued by paparazzi. Since then, conspiracy theories have flourished, some purporting that Diana’s death was an assassination carried out by MI6 (a belief spouted by Fayed’s wealthy father, Mohammed Al Fayed), others claiming she’s still alive after staging her demise.
One person who long believed the latter theory was none other than Diana’s youngest son, Prince Harry. “For a long time, I just refused to accept that she was gone,” he told interviewer Anderson Cooper during a 2023 interview with “60 Minutes.” “For a long time, I just refused to accept that she was — she was gone. Part of, you know, she would never do this to us, but also part of, maybe this is all part of a plan.” Asked if he really believed this, the Duke of Sussex admitted, “For a time, and then that she would call us and that we would go and join her, yeah.”
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In another interview with Michael Strahan for “Good Morning America,” Harry came to understand the magical thinking underlying his mistaken belief. “I say 100% it’s a defense mechanism, right? I think for anyone, especially if you’re a kid — you know, I was 12 years old,” Harry said, as reported by The Hill. “I refused to accept that that was what had happened.”
