Prince William and Prince Harry have spoken of their regret that their last conversation with their mother was a “desperately rushed” phone call.

Prince Harry, who was 12 when Princess Diana died, said: “All I do remember is probably regretting for the rest of my life how short the phone call was.”

In an ITV documentary to mark 20 years since their mother’s death, the princes also spoke of her “fun” parenting.

Diana encouraged them to be “naughty” and smuggled them sweets, they said.
The princes added that she was a “total kid through and through”, who understood the “real life outside of palace walls”.

Unpublished photos of the princes with their mother feature in the programme.

Prince Harry and Prince William are seen looking through Diana’s personal album as they talk about how their childhood memories of their mother sat alongside her global image and influence as a campaigner for the homeless, Aids victims, and banning landmines.

Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997 when Prince William was 15 and Prince Harry was 12.

Prince William said taking part in the programme initially seemed “quite daunting” but had been “a healing process as well”.

He said they wanted “her legacy to live on in our work and we feel this is an appropriate way of doing that”.