In a candid chat as part of a new documentary, Prince Harry has admitted that he "buried" his emotions after the shocking death of his mother, Princess Diana. When she was killed in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, Harry was just 12 and his brother Prince William was 15.

The ITV doc, which focuses on his charity work in Lesotho, Africa, sees the 32-year-old royal revealing that he never really dealt with his mother's death. "I never really dealt with what had happened," he explained. "It was a lot of buried emotion. For a huge part of my life I didn’t really want to think about it."

He added: "I now view life very differently from what it used to be. I used to bury my head in the sand, and let everything around you tear you to pieces. I was fighting the system, going: 'I don't want to be this person.' My mother died when I was very, very young and I don't want to be in this position. Now I’m so energized, fired up, to be lucky enough to be in a position to make a difference."

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Prince Harry is hoping to carry on with his mother's humanitarian legacy with his charity work, including Sentebale, the charity which was founded in 2006 to provide care, support and education to youth affected by HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana.

Earlier this year, the fifth-in-line revealed how his Colour Sergeant at Sandhurst helped him build his confidence after losing his mother at a young age. Speaking at a youth mentor training event at Mackie Academy in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, he explained: "I was at a stage in my life when I was probably lacking a bit in guidance.

"I lost my mum when I was very young and suddenly I was surrounded by a huge number of men in the army. He was someone who teased me at the right moments and gave me the confidence to look forward, to actually have that confidence in yourself to know who you are and to push forward and try to help others."

Prince Harry In Africa airs on Monday at 9pm, on ITV1 in the UK