EXCLUSIVE: Prince Harry's 'Emotions Stirred Over Princess Diana Book' at WellChild Awards
Prince Harry seemed emotional at the WellChild Awards over his late mother.
Sept. 22 2026, Published 6:45 p.m. ET
Prince Harry's visible emotions at the WellChild Awards were stirred by thoughts of his mother, Princess Diana, following the publication of his uncle's deeply personal new book about her life, sources have told RadarOnline.com.
The 42-year-old Duke of Sussex's feelings bubbled to the surface while paying tribute to parents caring for seriously ill children at the ceremony on Monday, September 21.
Prince Harry's Emotional WellChild Awards Appearance
Prince Harry showed visible emotions during the annual WellChild Awards.
His appearance came as Charles Spencer, 62, published Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, revisiting Diana's life and death and Harry and Prince William's childhood experiences.
One source claimed: "Harry was already in an emotional frame of mind because everything surrounding his uncle's book has inevitably stirred up and brought memories of his mother back to the surface. Going into an evening centered on children, parents and families while thinking about Diana and his own childhood made it particularly poignant for him."
Harry told parents during his speech: "To all the mums and dads – most of us will never truly know the emotional ups and downs of your day."
Presenter Gaby Roslin reached out to support Harry as his voice faltered, having previously comforted him when he became emotional at the 2019 awards.
Harry joked: "It's happening again."
When Roslin held his arm, he laughed and added: "That doesn't help; that makes it worse".
Charles Spencer's Princess Diana Memoir Brings Memories Back
Charles Spencer published his controversial book focusing on royal sibling history.
Another insider said the timing of Spencer's book had inevitably made Diana particularly present in Harry's thoughts.
They added: "The book deals with his mother as a person rather than simply a historical royal figure, and it revisits a period containing some of Harry's most painful memories.
"That doesn't diminish what Harry was feeling for the WellChild families. If anything, thinking about his mother and then hearing stories about parents fighting every day for their children made the evening even more affecting."
Harry has been WellChild's patron since 2007 and met young award recipients before the ceremony. He was questioned by reporters on arrival about whether he had spoken recently to Spencer but did not respond.
Spencer has said Harry is "completely fine" with his book, which largely concludes with Diana's death in Paris in 1997, when she was 36.
He told People: "I can say that Harry is completely fine about it. He said, 'I hope there's nothing embarrassing about him in it.' I said, 'There isn't.'"
Buckingham Palace Responds to Charles Spencer's Claims
Buckingham Palace responded to allegations against King Charles in the new book.
The book contains allegations concerning King Charles, 77, prompting a public response from Buckingham Palace.
A Palace spokesperson said Charles was "mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise."
Spencer added his nephews appear in the memoir principally as Diana's children.
He noted: "But I could reassure both of them that they're of course in the book, but really as examples of two little boys who had the most exceptional mother, I'm not in any way compromising their privacy at all."
Spencer has insisted Diana remains the focus of his account.
"I'm looking at them as people. And the central person, the only one that really matters, is Diana," Spencer explained.
Prince Harry Reflects on Princess Diana as a Father
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Princess Diana remains central to Prince Harry's life after an intense period of reflection.
A source claimed: "Harry has never made any secret of how profoundly losing his mother affected him, and having so much of that period revisited publicly through his uncle's book has naturally brought those memories closer to the surface again.
"There is a difference between being comfortable with Charles writing the book and finding its contents easy to revisit emotionally. Harry can support his uncle's right to tell Diana's story while still finding himself thinking deeply about his mother, what happened to her, and everything he experienced as a boy.
"The timing of the WellChild Awards made those emotions particularly powerful. Harry was standing in a room listening to the experiences of parents whose lives revolve around caring for their children, while his own thoughts about motherhood, childhood, and losing Diana had been brought up all over again.
The insider explained, "Those things collided emotionally. His reaction wasn't simply about the book, and it certainly shouldn't detract from the families being honored, but people around Harry felt the renewed focus on Diana had left him particularly reflective before he arrived.
"Harry is now a father himself, which has changed the way he looks back on his own childhood. Hearing stories about the extraordinary lengths parents go to for their children can resonate very differently when you have children of your own."
"The book has also meant Harry is once again encountering his mother's story through somebody who knew her intimately as a sister rather than through the endless public mythology surrounding Diana. That is bound to carry a very different emotional weight for him," the source noted.
"He might have been completely fine with Charles writing it, but that doesn't mean reading or thinking about those memories is emotionally neutral. Diana remains an enormously important presence in Harry's life, and this has been an unusually intense period of reflection about her."
