Prince Harry has said he doesn't have early memories of his mother after internally "blocking" them out. The Duke of Sussex has also spoken about being his "mother's son" and being "swarmed" by paparazzi with Princess Diana in his explosive Netflix documentary which was released on Thursday morning.
Following a scene where Harry and Meghan detail their 'great love story', which revealed that Meghan Markle didn't know who 'Prince Harry' was when she was first told about him and how they fell in love, the youngest Prince - who, when he was born, became third in line to the throne but is now classed as a former working royal after he gave up his royal duties in January 2020- said: "For so many people in the family, especially the men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mould as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with.
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"The difference between making decisions with your head or your heart. And my mum certainly made most of her decisions, if not all of them, from her heart. And I am my mother's son."
As video clips of the announcement of Harry's birth and his early childhood play in the documentary, the royal recalls his childhood after being asked whether he remembers a moment where he first realised his family was different.
Harry replies: "No, I just think it's gradual. There's no point where we're all sat down in a classroom and my grandmother stands there with the long stick and her glasses and goes 'right, so this is what it means to be in the royal family...' that doesn't happen.
"My childhood I remember was filled with laughter, filled with happiness and filled with adventure," although he sombrely adds: "I don't have many early memories of my mum. It was almost like, internally, I sort of blocked them out. But I always remember her laugh, her cheeky laugh. Her always saying to me: 'You can get in trouble, just don't get caught' and I'll always be that cheeky person inside.
"The majority of my memories are of being swarmed by paparazzi...Rarely did we have a holiday without someone with a camera jumping out of a bush or something. Within the family, within the system, the advice that's always given is 'don't react, don't feed into it'. There was always a public pressure, with its fair share of drama, stress and also tears. And witnessing those tears. I could always see it on my mum's face. And I guess those are the moments where I thought 'hang on, wait a second, maybe.. 'what am I? Who am I? What am I part of.'"
The Netflix documentary, Meghan revealed early on in first episode, was created to "let people have a bit more of a glimpse into what's happened and also who we are". She added: "Doesn't it make more sense to hear our story from us?"
Follow live updates and reaction to the Harry and Meghan documentary here.
The docu-series is six episodes long and is available to stream on Netflix now.
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