14 Heartbreaking Quotes About Princess Diana from Prince William and Prince Harry

"Slowly, you try to rebuild your life, you try to understand what happened. I kept myself busy, as well, to allow you to get yourself through that initial shock phase. We're talking maybe as much as five to seven years afterwards."

— Prince William, on the grief process after his mother's death, in an interview aired during the 2017 HBO documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy

"When it came to the wedding, I did really feel that she was there. You know, there was times when you look to someone or something for strength, and I very much felt she was there for me."

— Prince William, on feeling his mother's presence on his wedding day, in an interview aired during the documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy

"If I'd known that that was the last time I was going to speak to my mother, the things that I would — the things I would have said to her. All I do remember regretting for the rest of my life how short that phone call is. Looking back now, I have to live with that for the rest of my life."

— Prince Harry, on his last phone call with his mother before her death, in an interview aired during the documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy

"Time makes it easier. I know how you feel. I still miss my mother every day, and it's 20 years after she died."

— Prince William, to a 14-year-old boy who also lost his mom during a visit to the Keech Hospice in Luton, England, in August 2016

"Everything can be okay, but I really regret not ever talking about it for the first 28 years of my life. I never talked about it."

— Prince Harry, at a barbecue at Kensington Palace in honor of the mental-health initiative Heads Together, in July 2016

"All I want to do is make my mother incredibly proud," he said. "That's all I've ever wanted to do."

— Prince Harry, in his PEOPLE May 2016 cover story, ahead of the Invictus Games.

"I don't have that many memories of my childhood with my Mum. I don't say, 'Right, I'm going to get involved in that because that's what my Mum would want me to do,' though inevitably, once I'm doing it, I think, 'Do you know what? She'd probably love this.'"

— Prince Harry, in his PEOPLE May 2016 cover story, ahead of the Invictus Games.

"What my mother recognized back then — and what I understand now — is that grief is the most painful experience that any child or parent can endure."

— Prince William, at a dinner to mark the 21st anniversary of Child Bereavement Charity, in 2015.

"Obviously, she's not going be around to share in all the fun and excitement, so this is my way of keeping her close to it all."
— Prince William, in a 2010 interview with ITV News, on why he gave Kate Middleton his mother's engagement ring.

"Never being able to say the word 'Mummy' again in your life sounds like a small thing. However, for many, including me, it's now really just a word — hollow and evoking only memories."

— Prince William, in support of the Child Bereavement Charity's Mother's Day campaign in 2009.

"We wanted to represent exactly what our mother would have wanted. The church service alone isn't enough. We wanted to have this big concert, full of energy, full of fun and happiness. We know that's what she would have wanted. On her birthday as well, it's got to be the best birthday present she's ever had."

— Prince William, in a 2007 interview ahead of the Concert for Diana

"William and I can separate life into two parts. There are the years that we were blessed beside us with the physical presence of both our mother and father. And then there are the 10 years since our mother's death."

— Prince Harry, in a speech honoring the 10-year anniversary of his mother's death.

"She was our guardian, friend and protector. She never once allowed her unfaltering love for us to go unspoken or undemonstrated. Behind the media glare, to us, two children, she was quite simply the best mother in the world."

— Prince Harry, in a speech honoring the 10th anniversary of his mother's death.

"I believe I've got a lot of my mother in me, basically, and I think she'd want us to do this, me and my brother."
— Prince Harry, on working with AIDS charities for a documentary, in 2004.