There is also Sardinia in the hazy memories of Prince Harry of England on the "cursed" summer of 1997, the year in which his mother Diana died.
In his latest, explosive, autobiographical book ("Spare - The Minor", published by Mondadori) , the second son of Lady D and King Charles III goes back in his memory to that summer, when he was only twelve.
A child barely aware that his parents have separated, but who doesn't realize why. And that, not knowing exactly where his mother is, suddenly gone, he is forced to chase the rumors.
In that tragic and fateful August, Harry was on holiday in Balmoral, Scotland . And with him there were – almost – everyone. "There was also the grandmother (Queen Elizabeth, ed), of course," writes Harry. «And grandfather, Willy (brother William, ed) and dad. Everyone except mom , because she wasn't part of the family anymore. She'd run away, or been pushed away, it depended on who you asked. Even though I've never asked questions .'
Fled, with her new "friend" (Dodi al-Fayed, ed), continues Harry, but where? And it is here that Sardinia appears, in the faded memories hidden behind "a very high wall" of the little prince.
«Someone said in Greece, no, in Sardinia, another retorted... or perhaps she had said it herself when she had called a few hours earlier?».
Harry says he doesn't remember clearly. But, he admits, just not knowing exactly how things were allowed him, after all, to be carefree. "Indeed - he underlines - it is possible that I have never been happier than that sunny summer day at Balmoral, on August 30, 1997".
Unfortunately, however, the mother was no longer in Sardinia. She and her "friend" Dodi were now in Paris. On the run from the paparazzi. A crazy car race that ended up hitting a pylon. Without escape.
Harry will find out the next day. And the tragedy will change his life forever, making him sink, as he himself reveals in the book, into a sort of "long and deep night".
(Unioneonline/lf)