Prince Harry has revealed how his late mother’s favorite perfume helped him reconnect with memories he feared he had lost forever. The Duke of Sussex, 42, shared the personal revelation in his new MasterClass, “Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss.” Meanwhile, copies of Charles Spencer’s biography of Diana were stolen before its release.
Prince Harry Struggled to Remember Diana
According to People, Harry was just 12 years old when Diana died in a Paris car crash in 1997. In the years that followed, he struggled to recall some of his most precious memories of his mother.
“I forgot what my mom sounded like. I forgot her laugh,” Harry explained in the MasterClass. He also struggled to picture her without looking at a photograph.
According to People, Harry described how he had shut down his emotions following the loss. That response affected both his painful memories and the happy moments he shared with Diana.
For years, he even believed his mother might still be alive. He imagined she had escaped her difficult circumstances and would eventually return to take him and Prince William away.
“That protective belief lasted for a decade,” Harry recalled. He explained that shutting down his emotions became a defense mechanism.
The Perfume That Helped Unlock Memories of Diana
Harry eventually found an unexpected way to reconnect with his memories of Diana. His therapist introduced him to a technique involving familiar scents.
The Duke of Sussex had previously seen the approach used with military veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. He decided to try it with his mother’s favorite fragrance.
The perfume was First by Van Cleef & Arpels, a floral scent Harry had also identified in his 2023 memoir, “Spare.”
“It was like being transported to another time,” Harry recalled.
He explained that the familiar fragrance helped break through the emotional barriers he had built over the years. Memories and experiences he had struggled to access began to return.
People quoted Harry describing how the scent seemed to break through parts of that emotional wall. He said it allowed memories to begin “seeping through.”
Why Scent Can Trigger Powerful Memories
Harry’s experience also has a scientific explanation. In the MasterClass, neuroscientist Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor discussed the connection between smell, emotion and memory.
According to Parade, O’Connor explained that scent has strong connections to the amygdala and hippocampus. These brain regions play important roles in processing emotions and forming memories.
For Harry, the perfume became more than a reminder of Diana. It helped him access memories that had remained difficult to reach for years.
Harry Learned That Diana Wanted Him to Be Happy
Recovering memories of Diana formed part of a broader change in Harry’s relationship with grief.
For years, he felt guilty about experiencing happiness without his mother. He believed his sadness proved how much he missed her.
“I felt like I had to be sad and I had to be emotionally numb in order to prove to her that I missed her,” he explained.
Eventually, Harry came to see things differently. He realized that Diana would have wanted him to find happiness rather than remain trapped in grief.
He also hopes his work will make his mother proud. He believes his charitable efforts reflect the causes she supported during her life.
“Trying to continue and protect her legacy,” Harry explained, has become an important part of his work.
In other news, a canceled crime drama has hit number 4 on the Netflix worldwide charts.
Comments
Prince Harry Says Diana’s Perfume Helped Unlock Memories He’d Lost