Prince William has opened up many times about the impact that his late mother’s death had on him and how he vowed to do her proud after her tragic passing. In the 2017 ITV documentary ‘Diana, Our Mother’, Prince William spoke candidly about the tragedy and revealed how it has influenced who he is today.
He explained: “It’ll either make or break you. And I wouldn’t let it break me, I wanted it to make me. I wanted her to be proud of the person I’d become. I didn’t want her worried or her legacy to be, you know, that William and/or Harry were completely and utterly devastated by it.” Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997 and at the time, her two young sons were on their summer holiday with Charles and the rest of the Royal Family at the Balmoral Estate in Scotland.
In the interview, William also spoke about how it felt to meet and greet crowds at Kensington Palace shortly after her passing.
He said: “People wanted to grab us, to touch us. They were shouting, wailing, literally wailing at us, throwing flowers, and yelling, sobbing, breaking down, people fainted, collapsed. It was a very alien environment.
“I couldn’t understand why everyone wanted to cry as loud as they did and show such emotion as they did when they didn’t really know our mother. I did feel a bit protective at times about that. You didn’t even know her – why and how are you so upset? Now looking back, I have learnt to understand what it was she gave the world and what she gave a lot of people.”
Prince William spoke again about his mother’s passing when he was appointed as the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of Scotland in 2021. He said in his speech: “Scotland is incredibly important to me and will always have a special place in my heart. I’ve been coming to Scotland since I was a small boy.”
He further continued: “In short, Scotland is the source of some of my happiest memories. But also, my saddest. I was in Balmoral when I was told that my mother had died. Still in shock, I found sanctuary in the service at Crathie Kirk that very morning.
“And in the dark days of grief that followed, I found comfort and solace in the Scottish outdoors. As a result, the connection I feel to Scotland will forever run deep.”
“And yet alongside this painful memory, is one of great joy. Because it was here in Scotland – twenty years ago this year — that I first met Catherine. Needless to say, the town where you meet your future wife holds a very special place in your heart”
William also added how his three young children, George, Charlotte and Louis are “starting to build their own happy memories” in Scotland too, visiting the country during the holidays.
The Wales family are currently in Scotland for the Royal Family’s annual summer break in the Highlands. The Royal Family has been traveling up to Balmoral, nestled in the heart of the Scottish Highlands since 1852, when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert acquired the Aberdeenshire estate.
