Prince Harry was just 12 years old when he was told his mother, Princess Diana, had died following a car crash in Paris and he shared the heartbreaking moment with the world

Prince Harry opened up about how he learnt about the devastating news of his mother Princess Diana’s death.

A 12 year old Harry was informed by his father, then-Prince Charles, about the horrific car crash that took Dianas life on August 31, 1997.

In his memoir, Spare, Harry recounts that whilst sitting on the edge of his bed, his father broke the tragic news, using certain phrases that remain with him as “like darts in a board”. The young prince recalled how Chares “looked at me in a funny way, a way he’d never looked at me before”.

Initially under the impression that his mother could pull through, Harry explained his thought process at the time: “She’s been taken to hospital, they’ll fix her head, and we’ll go and see her. Today. Tonight at the latest.”

As reality unkindly swept away his hopes, he soon realised his mum had tragically passed away. He revealed the gentle but painful words spoken by his dad as he tried to convey the unbearable: “They tried, darling boy. I’m afraid she didn’t make it,” reports the Mirror.

Harry recalls these exact words that completely hit the brakes on everything. “None of what I said to him then remains in my memory,” Harry added, “It’s possible that I didn’t say anything. What I do remember with startling clarity is that I didn’t cry. Not one tear.”

He later unveiled a precious gift he received shortly after losing his mum. His aunt Sarah handed him a little blue box containing a lock of Diana’s hair.

According to Harry, Sarah admitted she had cut two locks from Diana’s blonde head while she was in Paris.

Prince Harry was left heartbroken by Charles’s relationship with Queen Camilla – then Camilla Parker Bowles – once accusing her of taking his father away from him.

Camilla and King Charles’ love story began in the 1970s, with whispers of an affair during his marriage to Princess Diana. This was later confirmed by Diana herself in a shocking interview in the 1990s.

Two years after Diana’s tragic passing in Paris, Charles and Camilla stepped out publicly as a couple for the first time, and they’ve been inseparable since.

In 2005, they announced their engagement and tied the knot just a few months later. However, their wedding was surrounded by controversy due to both being divorcees, leading them to choose a civil ceremony.