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'My children will never know her': Prince William opens up about missing Diana as new photo released of family

Opening up: Prince William with his family: GQ
Opening up: Prince William with his family: GQ

Prince William has revealed how he misses his late mother intensely in one of his most candid ever interviews about Princess Diana.

The future King says it has taken him 20 years to talk properly about Diana's death, the extraordinary week that followed it and the enormous impact it had on him and Prince Harry.

William's interview almost 20 years on from that car crash in Paris for the July issue is accompanied by new photographs of Kate and his children by Norman Jean Roy at Kensington Palace taken in April.

On missing Diana, William said: "I would like to have had her advice. I would love her to have met Catherine and to have seen the children grow up.

"It makes me sad that she won’t, that they will never know her."

Alastair Campbell and Prince Wiliam (GQ)
Alastair Campbell and Prince Wiliam (GQ)

Speaking to Tony Blair's former spin-doctor and journalist Alastair Campbell for British GQ Magazine, the future king has opened up about how he wishes Diana could have watched his children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, grow up.

On marking the 20th anniversary of Diana's death, he added: “I am in a better place about it than I have been for a long time, where I can talk about her more openly, talk about her more honestly, and I can remember her better, and publicly talk about her better.

"It has taken me almost 20 years to get to that stage. I still find it difficult now because at the time it was so raw.

“And also it is not like most people’s grief, because everyone else knows about it, everyone knows the story, everyone knows her.

"It is a different situation for most people who lose someone they love, it can be hidden away or they can choose if they want to share their story," he said.

In the wide-ranging conversation the Duke reveals his determination to get the nation talking more about emotions and feelings as part of the Heads Together campaign.

The interview appears in the new issue of GQ (GQ)
The interview appears in the new issue of GQ (GQ)

GQ's Alastair Campbell - who describes himself as an "old leftie Republican" - also asked William about why he and the younger royals had focused so much on the Heads Together campaign and what he hoped to achieve.

William responded: "Smashing the taboo is our biggest aim. We cannot go anywhere much until that is done.

"People can’t access services till they feel less ashamed, so we must tackle the taboo, the stigma, for goodness sake, this is the 21st century.

"I've been really shocked how many people live in fear and in silence because of their mental illness.

"I just don't understand it. I know I come across as quite reserved and shy, I don’t always have my emotions brewing, but behind closed doors I think about the issues, I get very passionate about things.

"I rely on people around me for opinions, and I am a great believer in communication on these issues.

"I cannot understand how families, even behind closed doors, still find it so hard to talk about it.

“I am shocked we are so worried about saying anything about the true feelings we have.

“Because mental illness is inside our heads, invisible, it means others tread so carefully, and people don’t know what to say, whereas if you have a broken leg in plaster, everyone knows what to say."

The Prince also spoke about the importance of family.

He said: "I could not do my job without the stability of the family. Stability at home is so important to me. I want to bring up my children in a happy, stable, secure world and that is so important to both of us as parents.

"I want George to grow up in areal, living environment, I don’t want him growing up behind palace walls, he has to be out there.

“The media make it harder but I will fight for them to have a normal life."

Alastair Campbell's full interview with Prince William appears in the July 2017 issue of British GQ, available on newsstands and as a download from 1 June.