4 Major Decisions Prince Harry Has Admitted Regretting

While Prince Harry has consistently defended his decision to step away from royal duties, over the years, the Duke's self-reflection has led him to make a few surprising admissions. From missteps in his wild youth to personal choices made during his post-royal transition, Harry has occasionally pulled back the curtain on moments he wishes he could handle differently. Here is a look at decisions Harry has openly regretted, shedding light on his evolving perspective on grief, family, and personal life.

One of Harry's most painful regrets is the final phone call he shared with his mother, Princess Diana, shortly before her death in August 1997. At the time, Harry was only 12 years old and was at Balmoral with his other family members. During his recent GQ interview, the Duke reflected on how different things might have been if he had known it would be their last call. "If I'd known it was the last call with her, how different that conversation would've been," he said. He also admitted, "And I'm the one that has to live with that. And the fact that as a 12-year-old kid, all I wanted to do was go off and run and play with my cousins." Elaborating further, he said, "Before I was a parent, that was a bit of guilt and stuff that just really stuck with me. It was heavy."

Following his mother's passing, Harry admitted that he suppressed the grief, struggled to understand his emotions, and spent years trying to carry on without properly processing the loss. In a recent MasterClass conversation about grief with Dr Mary-Frances O'Connor, Harry spoke about how he had become emotionally numb and how therapy eventually helped him understand his feelings. He shared, "I felt like I had to be sad in order to prove to her that I missed her." He continued, "In my 20s, I went to war twice, thinking I could outrun my feelings, but that's not what happened." The Prince admitted that therapy helped him recognize how much he had been holding inside and eventually understood how avoiding painful emotions can make grief harder to deal with.

Harry's infamous party life had dominated headlines for years, and while there were numerous speculations about substance abuse, he himself opened up about it in his memoir, Spare. He wrote about trying cocaine at 17 and also discussed his experiences with marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms. The details landed him in a legal mess with concerns around his US visa and immigration. Royal expert Jennie Bond, in a conversation with The Mirror, later claimed, "We know Harry has taken drugs. He has said so. He regrets being so open now because this is a rather vindictive hassle he doesn't need."

Harry has also openly admitted that wearing a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party in 2005 was a serious mistake. The then-20-year-old Prince was criticized for the costume, which included a swastika armband. Years later, he addressed the controversy in the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, admitting that he was deeply ashamed of his decision. "It was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life," he said. The Duke continued, I felt so ashamed afterwards. All I wanted to do was make it right." He also explained that he took steps to understand why the costume had been so offensive, including speaking to the Chief Rabbi in London and meeting a Holocaust survivor in Berlin.