Prince William believes he and Prince Harry let Diana down

This is so sad

Words by Jadie Troy-Pryde

Prince William has recently talked about how much his late mother, Princess Diana, has influenced his parenting. As the twenty year anniversary of her death edges ever closer, he has been opening up about what life was like with the much loved royal before her tragic death and he has also revealed his deep sadness that his own children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, will never get to meet her.

The Duke of Cambridge was 15 years old when Diana died, his brother Harry just 12, and now William has revealed exactly why it has taken the Princes twenty years to start opening up to the public about her.

'Part of the reason why Harry and I want to do this is because we feel we owe it to her,' he admits in a clip from an upcoming BBC1 documentary, Diana.

'I think an element of it is feeling like we let her down when we were younger. We couldn't protect her. We feel we at least owe her twenty years on to stand up for her name and remind everybody of the character and person that she was. Do our duties as sons in protecting her.'

Prince Harry also discusses the overwhelming support from the public following her death, saying: 'When she died there was such an outpour of emotion and love which was quite, which was shocking.

'It was beautiful at the same time, and it was amazing, now looking back at it, it was amazing that our mother had such a huge effect on so many people.

'When you're that young and something like that happens to you I think it's lodged in here, there, wherever - in your heart, in your head, and it stays there for a very very long time.

'I think it's never going to be easy for the two of us to talk about our mother, but 20 years on seems like a good time to remind people of the difference that she made not just to the Royal Family but also to the world.'

The documentary will air on the BBC later this summer, with a BBC spokesperson saying that it will 'tell the inside story of the tumultuous and unprecedented week that followed the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and explore how she came to have such an extraordinary effect on the nation and people around the world.'