Prince William and Prince Harry have given a candid insight into their close sibling bond. The British royals and the Duchess of Cambridge released a new film as part of the Heads Together campaign's #OkToSay series ahead of this weekend's Virgin Money London Marathon. The footage sees the brothers reveal how the death of their mother, Princess Diana, had brought them closer together. "Both of us have always been open to each other, but we've never really talked about it," revealed Harry, 32. "We've never really talked about losing a mum at such a young age."
He added: "You then when you speak to other people's families and little kids, you think 'wow I don't want them to have to go through the same things'. You want to with a little bit of experience, you want to help as much as you can and try to empower them to have that conversation. You want it to be brave for themselves to talk about it at a young age rather than bottling it up for far too long." Prince Harry was just 12, while William, 35, was 15 when their mother died in a tragic road accident in Paris in 1997.
Prince Harry was just 12, while Prince William was 15 when their mother died
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"Considering everything that you sadly went through and the trauma that you experienced… I do think how strong and how you've been able to cope really," added Kate. "I put that down to your really early years and childhood experience. But also the relationship that you have got, you're amazingly close." She reasoned: "Some families are sadly not as lucky as you." William went on to note that it was their mother's death which had brought them closer together. He explained: "But we have been brought closer because of the circumstances as well, that's the thing. You know you are uniquely bonded because of what we have been through. But you know, even Harry and I over the years have not talked enough about our mother."
Prince William and Prince Harry have opened up about their close bond
"Never enough," remarked Harry. "I always used to think, 'What's the point about bringing up the past? What's the point of bringing up something that's only going to make you sad, it isn't going to change, it isn't going to bring her back.' When you start thinking like that, it can be really damaging. You always said to me, you have to sit down and think about those memories."
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Prince Harry, who is Patron of the London Marathon Charitable Trust, is one of the forces behind the Heads Together campaign, which he leads with The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The mental health organisation has been named this year's charity of the year for the marathon. The royals are hoping that 2017's event will be recognised as "the mental health marathon" that gets the country talking about the issue.