Prince Harry opens up on ‘out of body’ experience at Princess Diana’s funeral when he was just 12 years old

Prince Harry has bravely shared the heartbreaking details of his 'out of body' experience walking behind Princess Diana’s coffin when he was 12 years old in his new docuseries.

• Prince Harry was just 12 years old when he lost his mother Princess Diana (opens in new tab) and joined Prince William, Prince Charles and Earl Spencer walking behind her coffin on the day of the funeral.
• Now the Duke of Sussex has spoken out about this experience in his new Apple TV+ documentary series, The Me You Can’t See.
• This royal news (opens in new tab) comes as Prince Harry admits he turned to alcohol and drugs to ‘mask’ pain in the aftermath of his mother Princess Diana’s death (opens in new tab).

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped back (opens in new tab) as senior members of the Royal Family last year and have since revealed that the intense scrutiny Meghan was under influenced their decision to move to the US. Speaking in the couple's “tell-all” Oprah interview, Harry seemed to compare Meghan’s experience with that of his late mother Princess Diana (opens in new tab) as he expressed concern about “history repeating itself”.

He candidly explained to Oprah in one of the clips: "I'm just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side.

"Because I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for her going through this process by herself all those years ago.”

Now in his new Apple TV+ documentary series with Oprah, entitled The Me You Can’t See, Harry has opened up about the loss of his mother and revealed heartbreaking details about the day of her funeral. The Princess of Wales tragically died in a car crash in 1997, when Harry was just 12 and Prince William 15. 

Her funeral was held on September 6 at Westminster Abbey, the same place where, 24 years later, William married Kate Middleton (opens in new tab) and forged happier memories there. On the day of the funeral, Diana’s coffin was transported from Kensington Palace to the Abbey in a poignant procession.

Her two sons joined Prince Charles, their uncle Earl Spencer and grandfather Prince Philip walking behind it. 

This tradition was observed last month at Prince Philip’s funeral (opens in new tab), which saw many prominent royals including Harry and William walking behind his coffin to St George’s Chapel. Now Harry has described the walk on the day of Princess Diana’s funeral as an ‘out of body’ experience. 

In his new docuseries, he stated: "For me the thing I remember the most was the sound of the horses' hooves going along the Mall.

"It was like I was outside of my body and just walking along, doing what was expected of me. Showing one tenth of the emotion that everybody else was showing.

"This was my mum - you never even met her”, he continued, referring to the huge crowds of mourners who lined the streets that day. 

Prince Harry's heartbreaking words come ahead of the unveiling of a memorial statue (opens in new tab) of their mother. He and Prince William will reunite for this moving occasion and the brothers have reportedly approved the final design together.

The unveiling will take place on July 1st, on what would have been Princess Diana's 60th birthday.