In January 1997, just seven months before her passing, Princess Diana went to Angola to highlight the work being done by the HALO Trust. Diana famously walked through a field which likely contained active landmines. Those photos went around the world, and Halo’s work received a huge boost. The following year, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines won the Nobel Peace Prize. Diana’s younger son has followed in her path – Harry has worked with the Halo Trust for years, and he even went to Angola and walked on the same field as his mother. Well, Harry is in Canada this week for the Invictus Games, and he agreed to an interview with a Canadian TV channel. He ended up speaking about how he had a conversation with Archie about Diana, and Harry ended up showing Archie the footage of Diana in Angola.
The Duke of Sussex has shown his five-year-old son Prince Archie the famous footage of Diana, Princess of Wales, walking through a minefield. The Duke, 40, revealed at the Invictus Games on Sunday that Prince Archie had asked to see photos and videos of Diana’s landmine walk in Angola in 1997.
During an interview at a wheelchair basketball game, he told CTV, a Canadian television channel: “It’s hard because kids don’t always ask the right questions, so you either shut it down right away, which I will never do, or you engage in the conversation and try to explain things. Archie was asking about landmines so I was talking about how some of these guys were blown up.”
“I think IEDs [Improvised explosive devices] are probably a little much at this point but I found myself talking to him about mines when he was five years old. Interestingly, it gave me a chance to talk about my mum, his grandma, which I didn’t even really consider so that became the outcome of the story for him. He wanted to see videos and photographs of his grandma Diana out doing her thing for landmines all those years ago. It produced a very interesting conversation between me and him, different to what I thought it would be.”
One of the Princess’s lasting legacies was a high-profile trip to Angola in January 1997 as a guest of the International Red Cross, to raise global awareness of landmines.
That’s really beautiful, especially Harry admitting that he never really thought to talk to his kids about Diana through her work, and showing the kids photos of Diana in Angola. I know he has photos of Diana up in his home, but most of those photos are family pics or some of Diana’s most beautiful portraits. It must have been so special to find the footage of Diana walking along that field in Angola (Diana actually did the walk twice so that photographers could really get it).
Prince Harry discussing how Prince Archie’s curiosity around amputees and landmines (PH works with the HALO Trust) led to them watching videos of Grandma Diana’s work and discussing her life 🥹
What a beautiful way foster their child’s curiosity and carry on her legacy 🕊️ pic.twitter.com/UMB05O1u6U
— Iris 🦆 (@IrisTheeScholar) February 10, 2025
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Getty.
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- Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex at Wheelchair Basketball in Vancouver Convention Centre during Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Vancouver, Canada When: 09 Feb 2025 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex at Wheelchair Basketball in Vancouver Convention Centre during Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 Featuring: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Vancouver, Canada When: 09 Feb 2025 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend wheelchair basketball at the Vancouver Convention Centre during the 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver Featuring: JJ Chalmers, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Vancouver, Canada When: 10 Feb 2025 Credit: INSTARimages
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- Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex at the Whistler Welcome Celebration during Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 . Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Whistler, Canada When: 10 Feb 2025 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend the Whistler Welcome Celebration during The 2025 Invictus Games Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex Where: Vancouver, Canada When: 11 Feb 2025 Credit: INSTARimages
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend the Whistler Welcome Celebration during The 2025 Invictus Games Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Vancouver, Canada When: 11 Feb 2025 Credit: INSTARimages
I think it’s great that he chooses to have the conversation instead of not talking about it with his son. He is doing a great job of parenting by communicating not shutting it down. I’m sure as time goes on the conversations will get more involved and let’s face it kind of sad when he has conversations about the leftovers with his children but he will get through it and help them understand.
It interesting and good that Harry is doing what his own father couldn’t or refused to do with him which is talk about his mother and her legacy.
Very thoughtful conversation between father and son. As a parent of a young child, your response to their questions are based on what you feel they will comprehend. To have footage of his mother to share as he explained how military personnel were maned or killed from IEDs is a lesson his son will remember.
It’s really amazing the ripple effect Diana’s life has had. She is such a source of inspiration for Harry in how he lives his life. And now he’s passing it onto his kids, her grandchildren.
This made me tear up..
It’s amazing how he has worked through his own pain to get to this point where he understands how not to make the mistakes his own father made.
Good on Harry to engage with Archie. Kids can sense if the answers they are getting are truthful.
It’s important to make sure kids know there are no wrong questions, no matter how difficult the subject may be.
My mom and I both learned the hard way that kids ask questions at an age where one isn’t necessarily mentally prepared yet to have age-appropriate answers. Mom with me, when her younger brother died of a heart attack when I was barely seven, and I, when our twins, then aged 5½, asked questions about me being chronically ill.
And then there are follow-up questions and one thing leads to another.
I heard on the news last evening that the full interview with the CTV anchor will be broadcast on Thursday, during the evening news broadcast I think.
That is so wholesome. I remember seeing the headlines from the tabloids when Diana made that historic walk. They mocked her, they got quote from some politician mocking her, calling her narcissist. The same way they are treating H&M now for every good thing they are doing. I can’t imagine having someone like Diana as my relative. Archie & Lili are gonna be so proud and I am sure that would help Harry to heal more.
Woah that’s crazy! I was still a baby when she did this so it’s crazy to read that they mocked her for doing this smh.
Exact same playbook decades apart. Wow
I can’t help but think about how the BM *just* accused Harry within the last 24 hours of “centering himself” at Invictus simply by introducing the games. It just goes to show that when they want to tear you down, they will, no matter what good you are doing. The only solution is to press forward and keep doing good.
We can all learn from Prince Darry the dad.