Prince Harry: I've started opening up about mum's death

Prince Harry revealed he has only recently begun opening up about the death of his mother Princess Diana.

The Princess of Wales was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 when Harry's brother William was 15 and he was just 12.

Now 31, the prince said he only began speaking about his mother's sudden death three years ago.

"For the first 28 years of my life, I never talked about it."

The royal was speaking at a BBQ at Kensington Palace for his mental health charity Heads Together.

He told former footballer Rio Ferdinand, who lost his wife Rebecca to cancer last year, how he had helped others deal with their grief.

"A friend of mine wanted to introduce me to his three kids whose mum committed suicide.

"He said, I just want them to meet you because they've started asking questions like 'what's going to happen when we get older, we haven't got a mum'.

"And we didn't even talk about it, we just sat down and had a laugh together. All they want to know is I'm normal, I'm not going to be, whatever it is, that fear of the unknown."

Father-of-three Ferdinand said of the Prince: "He's gone through different stages in his life that my kids are going to be going towards.

"So to get some of his experiences is very rewarding for me and very educational in many ways."

During the same event, sports star Dame Kelly Holmes also opened up about her battle with depression.

Kelly, who won gold in the 800m and 1500m in the 2004 Olympics, said: "It's really only been the last three or four years that I've been more open.

"No-one knew at all what I was going through. I was having treatment and they thought I was crying because the treatment was so hard.

"I feel a lot stronger, even in the last 18 months."