Prince Harry has been talking about the death of his mother Princess Diana during his royal trip to South Africa, admitting that her passing left a “gaping hole” in his heart that will never, ever be filled.
Prince Harry, like his mother and his elder brother, Prince William, is very involved in a number of charities across the world. And while celebrating the opening of the Mamohato Children’s Centre in Lesotho, Africa, Prince Harry decided to address the loss of his mother.
The fifth heir to the British throne was only 12-years-old when his mother died in a car crash in Paris, France. Prince Harry is now 30, while his mother was 36-years-old at the time of her death.
And over 18 years after the death of Princess Diana, Prince Harry admitted during the opening of this children centre, which will care for orphans that are trying to deal with the deaths of either one parent or both, that he still has a “gaping hole” in his heart. In fact he predicted that he doesn’t think this hole will ever be filled, declaring, “I knew there would always be a gaping hole that could never be filled.”
Prince Harry added that he still looks at the death of his mother as her being “snatched away” from him, while admitting that the circumstances for the children who will attend the Mamohato Children’s Centre is much graver.
“The children at the center were far younger than me, and of course, their situation was a great deal more challenging than my own,” Prince Harry continued, via Travelers Today . “Nonetheless, we share a similar feeling of loss, having a loved one — in my case a parent — snatched away so suddenly.”
The Mamohato Children’s Centre in Lesotho, Africa, was partially financed and then built with the assistance of Sentebale, the royal charity that Prince William, Prince Harry, and Kate Middleton are fundamentally involved in.
Inside the building there is also a dining room that’s named after Princess Diana. The centre will provide support and assistance to orphans whose parents have died of AIDS, a disease that Princess Diana spent a lot of her efforts trying to raise awareness about.
Back in October, while speaking to the Mirror , Prince Harry admitted that his own charitable efforts have been heavily inspired by the work of his mother.
“It’s equally important, if not more so, to do the stuff behind the scenes,” Prince Harry declared while talking about his efforts participating in royal engagements. “It’s something that our mother did a lot of. And that’s the time that you really get to learn. You get the experience and you actually get the honest truth out of people.”
Prince Harry made these comments while he was taking part in a 17-mile trek entitled Walking With The Wounded’s Walk Of Britain.
Speaking about the effect of Princess Diana’s death on both him and Prince William, who was 15 when she died back in August, 2007, Harry emotionally admitted, via Us Weekly Magazine , “William and I can separate life into two parts. There were those years where we were blessed with the physical presence beside us of both our mother and father [Prince Charles]. And then there are the 10 years since our mother’s death.”
[Image via Getty/ Chris Jackson ]
