Prince Harry Shares the Realization About Princess Diana That ‘Freed’ Him After Years of Grief

Meredith KileTue, October 13, 2026 at 8:50 PM UTC

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Prince Harry; Princess DianaCredit: Eugene Gologursky/Getty; Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty -

Prince Harry opened up about his journey with grief in a new MasterClass

In the in-depth episode, which explored the effects of grief on the mind and body, Harry admitted that he felt guilty anytime he felt happiness following the death of his mother, Princess Diana

After years of therapy, the prince shared the revelation about his late mother that helped him let go of the guilt and move forward

It took Prince Harry years to realize that his mother, Princess Diana, would want him to be happy after her death.

The Duke of Sussex, 42, teamed up with neuroscientist Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor for a new installment in the popular series, titled Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss. In the in-depth episode, the pair explored the chemical effects of grief on the brain and body via Harry’s own experiences grieving his late mother.

PEOPLE learned that MasterClass approached Harry about developing a class centered on grief last year. He filmed the program in California early this summer, though not at his Montecito home, before relocating with his family back to the U.K. The episode was released days ahead of World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10 and benefits two bereavement charities, Comfort Zone Camp and Scotty’s Little Soldiers, a longtime cause of Harry’s.

Prince Harry was 12 years old when his mother died tragically in a car crash in Paris. In the MasterClass, he reflects on the way that stifling his grief for many years led to bouts of anxiety and depression. He admitted to O’Connor that, for a long time, he feared that working through his grief and healing emotionally would mean losing a key connection to his late mother.

“I’d spent so long emotionally numb, to a large extent, because I felt disloyal and guilty for the possibility of being happy and joyful without her,” he shared. “I felt like I had to be sad and I had to be emotionally numb in order to prove to her that I missed her.”

Prince Harry attends the funeral of Princess Diana on Sept. 6, 1997; Princess Diana attends The Victor Chang Research Institute Dinner Dance in Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 31, 1996Credit: Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty;ADAM BUTLER/AFP via Getty

When he began truly processing his emotions, Prince Harry found the opposite was true.

“The reality is, what I discovered was actually that she just wanted me to be happy,” he shared. “And that was a huge mental shift for me. It freed me, and it gave me a whole different outlook on life.”

Prince Harry said he’s learned to channel the adrenaline and emotion from his past heartbreak into passion for his family and a host of charitable causes.

“Everything I do, everything I put my energy towards, I hope that my mother will be proud about it,” he noted. “Trying to continue and protect her legacy, what I didn’t realize was the work that I ended up choosing, or the work that I ended up getting drawn in and attracted to, was so similar to the work that she was doing.”

“With grief comes this — it’s not so much responsibility, but this carrying of the person that you’ve lost throughout your life,” he added. “There is an element of carrying my mother in me that ultimately energizes me for the work that I do.”

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Princess Diana cuddles Prince Harry in Majorca, Spain, on Aug. 10, 1987Credit: Georges De Keerle/Getty

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One technique that Prince Harry’s therapist suggested to continue his healing journey was using scent to recall memories of his mother that he thought he had lost in the years of grief and emotional repression.

O’Connor explained that science supports this technique, noting that, unlike the other senses, scent goes directly to the amygdala and hippocampus.

Prince Harry had previously observed it used on military veterans with PTSD. In those sessions, therapists had used the smells of war to unlock memories that had been obscured by trauma. For Harry, it was the smell of his mother’s perfume.

“It was like being transported to another time,” he recalled. “It unlocked everything that had been locked previously. There was still the wall there, the emotional and mental wall that I built up, where everything good and bad was on the other side of the wall. But spraying my mother’s scent was almost like knocking certain bricks through, so that I could see through and certain memories and experiences could start seeping through.”

Prince Harry wears the uniform of the Parachute Regiment of the British Army while playing with his mother, Princess Diana, in the garden of Highgrove House on July 18, 1986Credit: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty

O’Connor noted, “What’s important about that is, when you’re doing exposure because of grief, the thing that you’re being exposed to is that the person is not coming back... that they really are gone and you’re going to be okay. There are moments in grief where it is really difficult to remember them... but scent just cuts through all of that.”

For Harry, keeping himself open to happy memories of his mother allowed him to continue to feel “very much connected” to her both in his remembrance and in the “fleeting moments” where he recognizes her in day-to-day life.

“A lot has happened in my life in the last six years, and she has turned up at moments where it makes complete sense that she turned up in those moments,” he shared.

“It just makes me laugh out loud sometimes because it’s like, this is not a coincidence. There is no version of where this is anything else but you,” Harry added with a laugh. “I feel it as an energy. And also it’s visual. It’s a sign. And it’s very much connected to her.”

As the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death approaches next summer, PEOPLE understands that Harry is considering a number of projects to honor his mother and her legacy. Among them is the possibility of a documentary about Diana, which has been the subject of speculation, although PEOPLE understands that no such project has yet been finalized or confirmed.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”