Meghan Markle kneeled and put her palms on Princess Diana's gravestone to ask her late mother-in-law for 'clarity and guidance' on 20th anniversary of her death, Prince Harry reveals

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Prince Harry has revealed how his then-girlfriend Meghan Markle kneeled next to Princess Diana's grave to ask for guidance.  

Writing in his bombshell memoir Spare, which went on sale early in Spain yesterday, he recalled the first time she visited Diana's final resting place on the Althorp estate.  

Harry described how they rowed out to the island where his mother is buried, on the 20th anniversary of her death.

After taking a moment to reflect by himself he sensed that Meghan also wanted to take a private moment. 

'When I returned, she was on her knees with her eyes closed and her palms flat against the stone,' he said, adding that she'd told him she'd asked Diana for 'clarity and guidance'.

Prince Harry, pictured with his wife Meghan on a walkabout in Windsor after the death of the Queen this year, has revealed they visited his mother Princess Diana's grave on the 20th anniversary of her death 

The visit would have taken place in August 2017, when the couple had been together for roughly a year. 

The late Princess was laid to rest at her childhood home of Althorp House, Northamptonshire, in 1997, and the grave was re-dedicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2017 ahead of the 20th anniversary of her death.

Earl Spencer inherited the family seat of Althorp estate after the death of his father in 1992 and lives there with his third wife, Karen, and their daughter Lady Charlotte. 

Prince Harry reveals his final words to the Queen when he visited her body at Balmoral hours after she died 

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In 2017, the year which marked 20 years since Diana's death, several events took place to commemorate the date. 

Elton John, who famously sang Candle In The Wind at Diana's funeral, led the homages online on the 20th anniversary of her death. 

He shared a picture on Instagram of the pair together, with his arm around the Princess writing: '20 years ago today, the world lost an angel. RIP.'

Prince Harry later revealed that the song touched him on the day, telling a BBC documentary: 'Elton John's song was incredibly emotional, that was part of this whole trigger system which nearly brought me to the point of crying in public, which I'm glad I didn't do.'

On the 10th anniversary of Diana's death in 2007, Sir Elton opened and closed a Wembley Stadium concert organised by Prince William and his brother in memory of their mother.

Meanwhile Elizabeth Emanuel, co-designer of Diana's famous wedding dress, tweeted: 'Thinking of the wonderful times we spent with Diana and the great joy she brought into our lives and all those who knew her.' She posted a photo of the Emanuels tending to the train of Diana's bridal gown inside St Paul's Cathedral in 1981.

The princess's friend Rosa Monckton has also spoken out today, describing Diana as a 'truly extraordinary woman' in a new interview.

The island on the Althorp estate, Northamptonshire, where Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest

She was everything to everybody,' Ms Monkton said. 'She broke down the walls. She busted the myth of being a fairytale princess.'

She told The Times: 'I think that given the life she had, when you think what she had to overcome, and all of this in the public eye, I think she was a truly extraordinary woman. Very damaged, very flawed, as we all are, but underneath it all this incredible resilience.'

Diana's sons, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, had already paid tribute to their mother, visiting the floral tributes and pictures left at the gates of her former home, Kensington Palace.

Thousands of mourners gathered in front of the gates in West London to pay their respects to the late royal. 

Many left flowers and mementos as they remembered the life of Prince Harry and Prince William. 

The day before, William and Harry met representatives of charities their mother supported and Harry told them her death was a tragedy for them - as they were preparing to work with the princess - as well as his family.

He said: 'I can imagine for a lot of you it was like, 'right here we go, now we've got her, we've got the thirst, we've got the attention, now let's do something', then suddenly she's snapped away. If I can put it (this way), all of us lost somebody.'

Ahead of the anniversary, a replica of Diana's study had been displayed to royal fans at Buckingham Palace. 

The study was adorned with some of Diana's favourite items, which had been loaned to the palace by her son's. 

It was reported at the time that the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex had told staff how they wanted the items to be disposed on their mother's desk for the temporary exhibition. 

Among all the pens and pencils, blotters, Roberts radio and stationery, what stands out are the pictures of her boys.

The famous 1995 Christmas card of Diana with Prince William and Prince Harry was on show, alongside everyday pictures from Diana's collection. 

Princess Diana's Cartier silver desk-top calendar, which was gifted to her by Ronald and Nncy Reagan in 1985, was also on the desk. 

It was engraved with 'Dates to Remember' and includes the birthdays of 'William', 'Harry' and 'Charles' – along with 'Anniversary' – though not the Princess's own birthday on July 1st.

Prince Harry has previously spoken about how much Meghan reminds him of his late mother. 

In the couple's bombshell Netflix series, released last month, he said: 'So much of what Meghan is and how she is, is so similar to my mum.

'She has the same compassion. She has the same empathy. She has the same confidence. She has this warmth about her.' 

Today saw fresh revelations from Harry emerge in a trailer for his interview with ITV's Tom Bradby.

The Duke of Sussex described William's 'red mist' in a fight over Meghan before admitting that he took cannabis, magic mushrooms and cocaine in another clip from his ITV interview, out on Sunday.

Harry also insisted to Mr Bradby that he wants reconciliation with his relatives, even though his memoir has damaged the King and plunged the Royal Family into its worst crisis since the death of his mother in 1997.

Diana, Princess of Wales with Prince Harry on holiday in Majorca, Spain on August 10, 1987

And in a separate teaser released by Good Morning America last night, he admitted the rift with William would make their late mother 'sad'.

Former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, a biographer of Princess Diana, said today: 'Harry's turned into a human hand grenade It's raining down on the House of Windsor just at the start of his father's reign'.

Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace have declined to comment on anything Harry has said on TV or in his book.

'It is exhausting, it is exasperating, but it is not distracting. It will burn itself out.'

Harry claimed the stand-up row in Nottingham Cottage – his Kensington Palace flat – ended with William grabbing him by the collar and throwing him to the floor, shattering a dog bowl. His back was scraped and bruised, he said.

'He wanted me to hit him back, but I chose not to,' he said of his brother. In the clip released early today, Harry said to Mr Bradby: 'What was different here was the level of frustration, and I talk about the red mist that I had for so many years, and I saw this red mist in him.'

The short clip from the ITV interview, which is due to be broadcast on Sunday, also had Harry addressing the drug use detailed in Spare.

Mr Bradby said to the duke: 'There's a fair amount of drugs [in the book]. Marijuana, magic mushrooms, cocaine. I mean, that's going to surprise people.'

Harry appeared to agree and says it was 'important to acknowledge'.

The royal also stated he wants to reconcile with his family – something which he says cannot happen without 'some accountability'.

'I want reconciliation,' he says, 'but, first, there needs to be some accountability'. The duke also said: 'The truth, supposedly, at the moment, has been there's only one side of the story, right? But, there's two sides to every story.'

Read more: 

Harry's 'wild child' years: Before he was a woke warrior, the Duke smoked, drank and partied through his twenties after smoking joints at Highgrove and taking cocaine at 17 (and even did a stint in rehab) 

What's REALLY behind Meghan and Kate's long-standing feud: Prince Harry's memoir claims fallings out over bridesmaids dresses, Easter gifts and lip gloss drove them apart (but 'recollections may vary')

How Hippy Harry inherited a love of psychics from Diana: Late royal regularly consulted mediums - including one who was with her the day she recorded Panorama interview