Prince Harry wanted to collect mum Diana’s body following her tragic death - but Prince Charles said no, it has been claimed.

The Duke of Sussex, aged 12 at the time, reportedly asked his father if he could accompany him to Paris to retrieve her body following the accident on August 31, 1997.

Princess Diana suffered fatal injuries in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel in Paris.

Her companion Dodi Fayed and driver and security guard Henri Paul were also killed in the crash.

At the time of the fatal car crash, Prince Charles was on holiday in Balmoral with the Queen and young sons and was the first to be told of Diana’s death.

According to the Mirror, the young prince, now aged 34, asked his father if he could travel with his father to Paris to collect Diana’s body.

But in an effort to shield his children from some of the heartbreak, Charles refused his son’s request and travelled alone to collect his ex-wife’s body.

Journalist and friend of Diana, Richard Kay told the Channel 5 documentary 7 Days That Shook The Windsors the young princes were the main priority.

He reportedly said: “The Queen and Prince Charles’ view was that the boys were their main priority ... Charles took the decision that he was going to Paris to bring back Diana’s body.

“This was a surprising and brave move. He was an ex-husband, he had no right to be there other than as the father of her sons.”

Previously, Harry revealed he “shut down all his emotions” for two decades after losing his mother.

He said: “I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well.

Harry added: “My way of dealing with it was sticking my head in the sand, refusing to ever think about my mum, because why would that help? “(I thought) it’s only going to make you sad, it’s not going to bring her back.

“So from an emotional side, I was like ‘right, don’t ever let your emotions be part of anything’.