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Sonia Sharma

Prince Harry opens up on 'blocked out' memories of Diana and childhood in the public eye in Netflix show

Prince Harry has talked about his early childhood, his memories of his mum and the impact of being in the public eye in a new Netflix documentary.

Harry and Meghan's documentary aired on Netflix on Thursday morning and speaking in the first episode, the Duke of Sussex described his childhood before talking about Diana's death. He and Meghan also spoke about their relationship and how they first met.

The series opens with a message saying: "This is a first-hand account of Harry and Meghan's story, told with never before seen personal archive. All interviews were completed by August 2020." It then says: "Members of the Royal Family declined to comment on the content within this series."

Read More: Harry and Meghan Netflix documentary LIVE: Updates as the 'explosive' series is released

The programme shows a number of photographs and video footage of Harry, his parents and Prince William during their childhood as he comments: "My childhood I remember was filled with laughter, filled with happiness and filled with adventure. 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. And she always said to me, if you get into trouble just don't get caught. And I'll always be that cheeky person inside."

Diana, Princess of Wales, with Princes William (left) and Prince Harry in 1994 (PA)

He goes on to say the majority of his memories were of being "swarmed by paparazzi". "Rarely did we have a holiday without someone with a camera jumping out of a bush or something," says Harry.

"Within the family and the system, the advice that's always given is don't react, don't feed into it. There was always public pressure, with a fair share of drama, stress and also tears, and also witnessing those tears. Always see it on my mum's face."

Prince Harry also said: "My mum was harassed throughout her life with my dad. But after they separated, the harassment went to new levels."

The Duke of Sussex then gave a heartbreaking account of how he and Prince William had to deal with their mother's death. "When my mum died, we had two hats to wear.

"One was two grieving sons wanting to cry, grieve and process that grief because of losing our mum. Two, was the royal hat - show no emotion, get out there, meet the people, shake their hands. The UK literally swept me and William up as their children."

Harry and Meghan, who married in May 2018, quit as senior working royals and moved to the US in January 2020.

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