Prince Harry didn’t believe his mother Princess Diana was dead for years, believing it was “all part of a plan” to disappear and that she would eventually ask him and his brother Prince William to join her.
Harry told Anderson Cooper in a 60 Minutes interview on Sunday that he had seen pictures of Diana lying dead in the car in Paris’ Pont d’Alma tunnel. Harry also revealed why he thought his stepmother, Queen Consort Camilla, was “dangerous” by “leaving corpses in the streets” during her rise in the royal family, and by her alleged connections to the British press.
It was the second major interview Harry had given on Sunday before the English-language release of his memoir, Spare. Like the first interview with British broadcaster ITV, this one was full of startling revelations.
In the memoir, Harry writes of his stepmother Camilla, who campaigned in the British press for inclusion after Diana’s death: “I even wanted Camilla to be happy. Maybe she would be less dangerous if she were happy.”
“She was the bad guy. She was the third person in their marriage. She had to rehabilitate her image,” Harry told Cooper of Camilla’s position after Diana died.
“With a family built on hierarchy, and with her on her way to becoming Queen Consort, people or corpses would be left in the streets because of that.”
– Prince Harry
When asked by Cooper how dangerous Camilla was, Harry replied: “Because of the need to rehabilitate her image”, which made her dangerous, “because of the connections she forged within the British press. And there was an open willingness on both sides to exchange information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her, on the way to the Queen Consort, people or corpses would be left on the road because of it…
“If you think being on the front page as a family member, having positive headlines and writing positive stories about you will improve your reputation or increase the chances of you being accepted as a monarch by the British public, then you will do just that.”
Both Harry and William asked Charles not to marry Camilla, Harry Cooper said. “We didn’t think it was necessary. We thought it would do more harm than good and if he were on his person now that would be safe enough. Why go so far when it’s not absolutely necessary? We wanted him to be happy. And we saw how happy he was with her. So at the time it was ‘OK’.”
“For a long – long time I just refused to accept that she – she was gone,” Harry said of his mother, Diana. “Um, part of it, you know, she would never do that to us, but also part of it, maybe it’s all part of a plan.”
Harry thought, “She would call us and we would go to her, yes.”
How long have you believed that? Cooper asked.
“Years. Many, many years. And William and I talked about it too. He had – he had, uh, similar thoughts.”
Harry said he had “huge hopes” that Diana was alive.
Eventually he was shown photos of her body – “Proof she was in the car. Proof she was hurt. And proof that the very paparazzi who chased her down the tunnel also took pictures – pictures of her lying half dead in the back seat of the car.
“I wasn’t aware at the time that I was living my life on an adrenaline rush, and that was from the age of 12 when I was told my mother had died.”
– Prince Harry
“All I saw was the back of my mother’s head – slumped in the back seat. There were other more gruesome photos, but I will be eternally grateful (to his private secretary) for denying my ability to hurt myself by seeing this. Because that’s the stuff that sticks in your memory forever.”
William and he had considered reopening the inquest into her death. “Because there were so many gaps and so many holes. Which just didn’t add up and didn’t make sense.”
Harry still doesn’t think he knows the whole truth. “And I don’t think my brother does either. I don’t think the world does. Um – do I need more than I already know? no I don’t think it would change much.”
Being a soldier “felt like turning pain into purpose. I wasn’t aware at the time that I was living my life on an adrenaline rush, and that was the case from the age of 12, from the moment I was told my mother had died.”
Harry said he retained “a huge amount of frustration and guilt” from the British press for their part in what happened to his mother.
In the wide-ranging 60 Minutes interview, Harry also revealed that he had used psychedelics to deal with his grief.
“Ayahuasca, psilocybin, mushrooms. You really cared about them,” Cooper said.
“I would never recommend people to do this in their spare time,” Harry said. “But doing it with the right people, when you’re going through a big loss, grief or trauma, then those things have a kind of medicine to work… For me, they cleaned the windshield, the windshield, the misery of loss… You got that idea out of my head that – that my mother – that I had to cry to prove to my mother that I missed her. All she really wanted was for me to be happy.”
“I spent some time alone with her… She was in her bedroom. I was actually – I was really happy for her. Because she ended her life. She had completed her life and her husband was waiting for her.”
– Prince Harry
Harry also said he was not invited on the plane that took the other royals north to Scotland at Balmoral on the day of Queen Elizabeth’s death.
“I asked my brother — I said, ‘What are your plans? How do you and Kate get up there?’ And then a few hours later, all the family members who live in the Windsor and Ascot area hopped on a plane together,” Harry said. “A plane with 12, 14, maybe 16 seats.”
“You weren’t invited on that plane?” Cooper asked Harry.
“I wasn’t invited,” Harry replied.
Harry told Cooper that he had arrived in Balmoral where he was greeted by Princess Anne. He wondered if seeing his grandmother’s body was “a good idea.” “And I was like, ‘You know what? You can – you can do this. You – you have to say goodbye.” Um, so I went upstairs and took off my jacket and went in and just spent some alone time with her… She was in her bedroom. I was actually – I was really happy for her. Because she ended her life. She had completed her life and her husband was waiting for her. And the two will be buried together.”
Despite the physical altercations he details in Spare, the arguments and briefing he claims were waged against him, and all the stories he tells that paint his older brother in a bad light, Harry said to Cooper that he “deeply” loved William. There was a lot of pain between the two of us, especially in the last six years. Um- Nothing I’ve written, everything I’ve included is ever intended to harm my family. But it gives a complete picture of the situation growing up and also crushes this notion that somehow my wife was the one who destroyed the relationship between these two brothers… We had a very similar traumatic experience, and then we dealt with it in two very different ways.”
Harry told Cooper that he wasn’t talking or texting William. “But I’m looking forward to it — I’m looking forward to us being able to find peace.” He also hasn’t spoken to King Charles “in a while.”
Harry spoke about the initial media reaction to Meghan Markle. “The fact that she was American, an actress, divorced, black, multiracial with a black mother. Those were just four of the typical clichés that become a feeding frenzy for the British press.”
“I’m really glad I made the switch. Because instead of getting drunk, kicking out of clubs, doing drugs, I had found the love of my life and now had the opportunity to start a family with her.”
– Prince Harry
This was reflected in the royal family, he added. “My family reads the tabloids, you know? It’s served – at breakfast, when everyone gets together. So whether you walk around saying you believe it or not, it still is – it still leaves an impression on your mind. So when you start out with this judgment based on a stereotype, it’s very, very hard to get over it. And a big part of that for the family, but also for the British press and a lot of other people is: ‘He’s changed. She must be a witch. He’s changed.” As opposed to yes, I’ve changed, and I’m really glad I’ve changed. Because instead of getting drunk, kicking out of clubs, doing drugs, I had found the love of my life and now had the opportunity to start a family with her.”
“What scares me the most is that history repeats itself,” Harry said to Cooper. “I was very afraid that the bottom line, the fact that I lost my mother when I was 12, could easily happen to my wife again.”
“There comes a point where silence is treason,” Harry said of the Palace’s non-commentary when it came to Jeremy Clarkson’s Sun column, in which he imagined Meghan being pelted with excrement. Harry condemned “a tabloid outlet that literally radicalizes its readers with the potential to harm my family, my wife and my children.”
Harry told Cooper he couldn’t see himself returning as a full-time member of the royal family.
“No. I can’t imagine that,” Harry said to Cooper.
“The ball is all theirs (the royal family) but Meghan and I have gone on to say that we will openly apologize for anything we’ve done wrong, but every time we ask that question, nobody tells us that.” details or anything. There needs to be a constructive conversation, one that can take place in private and has not leaked out.”
“There is no question that family is at the heart of everything. I’m really looking forward to having that family element back.”
– Prince Harry
Cooper replied, “Well how can we trust you, how do we know you won’t reveal every conversation we have somewhere in an interview?”
Harry replied, “It all started with lying against my wife on a daily basis, to the point where my wife and I had to flee our…my country.”
When Cooper compared the situation to “Game of Thrones without dragons,” Harry said he hadn’t watched the show, “but there are definitely dragons. And that’s the third party again, the British press, so without the British press as part of that we’d probably still be quite a dysfunctional family, as many are. But the focus is without question a family. I’m really looking forward to having that family element back. I am looking forward to a relationship with my brother. I look forward to a relationship with my father and other members of my family.”