Prince Harry family photo story: Harry said a photo he took of Archie and Lilibet himself “fills my heart” after sharing it in Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss. He made the remarks in the MasterClass with Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor, where he also spoke about fatherhood, loss, and Princess Diana.
Harry said the image shows Archie and Lilibet walking barefoot on sand against a mountain setting, with Archie, seven, carrying a long stick and holding his sister’s hand. He said it was taken just before Archie’s birthday and added, “The two of them, brother and sister, at peace with each other in nature fills my heart.”
Harry and Archie and Lilibet
Harry described himself as “super happy” to have “two healthy, beautiful, amusing, very funny kids.” He said fatherhood has been “an emotional rollercoaster,” and added that he would not change it “for the world.”
He also said he is proud that he has got this far. In the same remarks, he said he would tell his younger self to “hold on tight” because it is going to be “one hell of a ride.”
Princess Diana and
Harry tied those comments to his grief after Princess Diana’s death. He said he often looks at a portrait taken by Patrick Demarchelier and wonders what she would think of his life now, saying he can get “eye contact” from her and sees “a cheekiness in her smile.”
He said he feels very connected to her through that photograph, but he also said that after her death he found it difficult to look at images of her. He recalled keeping photographs of Princess Diana in his bedroom at school and said he did not think about his mother because thinking about something so sad was never going to bring her back.
MasterClass and
Harry said he spent so long emotionally numb because he felt disloyal and guilty about the possibility of being happy and joyful without Princess Diana. He said he felt he had to be sad and emotionally numb to prove that he missed her, and added that he did not cry when he was told his mum died, only at her burial, then not again for nearly two decades.
He said that even with “the best help in the world,” he was still grieving and had nowhere to put those feelings. The picture he described today sits at the center of that divide: a father talking openly about joy with Archie and Lilibet while also tracing how loss shaped the way he saw his mother’s image for years.
