Almost 20 years to the day that Diana was killed in a tragic car crash, her sons have revealed their regret over rushing their final phone call with her.
“At the time Harry and I were running around minding our own business, playing with our cousins and having a very good time,” Prince William recalls in the documentary.
“I think Harry and I were just in a desperate rush to say goodbye. You know, see you later and we’re going to go off.”
Diana was in Paris and had called her sons at Balmoral.
“If I’d known now obviously what was going to happen, I wouldn’t have been so blasé about it. That phone call sticks in my mind quite heavily,” William adds.
Prince Harry remembers how his brother had told him: “Mummy’s on the phone.”
“I can’t really necessarily remember what I said, but all I do remember is regretting for the rest of my life how short the phone call was.
“If I’d known that that was the last time I was going to speak to my mother, the things I would have said to her.”
Later in the programme, Harry admits that he has only cried twice for his mother, who he tenderly calls “the best mum in the world”.
The first time was at her burial, at a private island on the Spencer family estate, Althorp. Since then, he has cried “maybe once”.
“I think it was a classic case of don’t let yourself think about your mum and the grief and the hurt that comes with it, because it’s never going to bring her back and it’s only going to make you more sad.”
The landmark documentary comes as the world prepares to mark the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death on August 31.
William has said that he and his brother felt that now was “the right time” to share their “very personal” memories of life with their mother.
“I think Harry and I feel very strongly that we want to celebrate her life and this is a tribute from her sons to her.
“We want her legacy to live on in our work and we feel this is an appropriate way of doing that to remind not only the people who knew her but also, we have to remember that this is 20 years ago now since she died and there are people who don’t even know about her.”
The documentary also delves into Diana’s charity work and her battles with press intrusion.
In a particularly poignant chat, William reveals how Prince George and Princess Charlotte know all about “Granny Diana”, who he jokes would have been a “nightmare grandmother”.
“She’d come in probably at bath time, cause an amazing amount of scene, bubbles everywhere, bath water all over the place and then leave,” he laughed.
When is the Princess Diana documentary on ITV?
Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy will air on Monday, July 24 at 9pm on ITV.
How to watch the Princess Diana documentary online
The 90-minute film will be available to stream on the ITV Hub as it airs, and immediately afterwards.
Who appears in the Princess Diana documentary?
The documentary also includes tributes from Diana’s brother Charles Spencer and Sir Elton John, who performed a rewritten version of Candle in the Wind at her funeral.
Contributions also come from Rihanna, Harry Herbert, Lady Carolyn Warren, William van Straubenzee, Gerard McGrath, Jayne Fincher (Royal Photographer), Anna Harvey (personal stylist), Lord Victor Adebowale and Graham Dillamore, (Gardens Manager, Kensington Palace).
Isn’t there another Princess Diana documentary coming up on the BBC?
William and Harry have filmed a second documentary which will air on the BBC in August, with the working title Diana.
Directed by Henry Singer, the film will see the princes discuss the week between Diana’s death and her funeral.
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