Prince Harry with his mother and brother Prince William at Thorpe Park. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Harry with his mother and brother Prince William at Thorpe Park. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Harry has admitted he does not have "that many memories" of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales 19 years after she died.
The Prince, who was 12 when his mother was killed in a car crash in Paris, has often spoken about how he thinks about her every day,but he suggested in an interview that his first-hand recollection of her is fading.
Image 1 of 12: Prince Charles and Princess Diana With The Newly Born Prince Harry Outside The Lindo Wing. Photo / Getty Images
He told the US magazine People: "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."
The Prince, who is about to attend the Invictus Games in Orlando, Florida, said he would love to take the opportunity to go back on some of the rides at Disney World that he enjoyed with his mother, recalling how he went on Space Mountain 14 times and "my policeman had to get off and vomit over the bench".
He also joked that he would pack a crown for his visit to America, because: "Every time I get to meet kids and they have been told a real-life prince is coming, the disappointment on their faces when they see me without a crown or without a cape...you can tell in the UK and across the world that they are genuinely disappointed, because they live in this fairy-tale land!
"So I am going to pack a crown and a cape this time and some funny pointy-toed shoes.
"I'm worried because the American kids, especially next to Disney World, are going to be thinking 'You ain't no prince, you're not dressed like a prince. You're having a laugh!' The pressure's on. I'm going to sign the crown out!"
Prince Harry, July 1986, accompanied by his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. Photo / Getty Images
The Prince said he loved any opportunity to be around children.
"Weirdly, it gives me energy. Some of these events, I feel as though people end up feeding off you. After an hour and a half, you've given so much and you literally want to pass out.
"It's this constant expectation, a lot of pressure and wanting to impress and get the job done.
"Yet with children it's almost the reverse - they energise you for the cause. I dig being around kids. I just have fun. You never know what they're going to say."
He does, however, worry about losing touch.
He told People, which is now on sale in the US: "Five years ago was the first time I actually started panicking, thinking to myself that I'm losing touch - that I don't play Xbox or Playstation any more. And when I do, I play against other people's kids - they kick my arse. It's great fun, but I associate little things like that with being out of touch.
"If I want to carry on doing the things I love and trying to make a difference, I have to be engaged with kids, and they have to think: 'He's relatively cool, we'll go along with him.' What I don't want to do is to turn up at a school and they say: 'Who's that joker? He's 31 years old and boring and doesn't have a clue!'
"You've got to try to stay in touch in order to invigorate them."
