The Duke of Sussex has said he does not have many early memories of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, believing he has internally “blocked them out”.

Diana died in a car crash when Harry was just 12, but the duke, in his new Netflix documentary, said he still remembers her “cheeky laugh”.

Archive footage of Diana and Harry’s father, the then Prince of Wales, with Harry and his older brother William at Harry’s christening and during other arranged photocalls were shown in the tell-all series Harry & Meghan, which began streaming on Thursday.

“My childhood, I remember, was filled with laughter, filled with happiness and filled with adventure,” he says.

“I don’t have many early memories of my mum. It was almost like internally I sort of blocked them out.

“But I always remember her laugh, her cheeky laugh, her always saying to me ‘You can get in trouble – just don’t get caught’.

“I’ll always be that cheeky person inside.”

Harry also spoke about his experience of facing photographers as a child.

“The majority of my memories are of being swarmed by paparazzi,” he said, adding that they rarely had a holiday without someone jumping out of a bush with a camera.

“Within the family, within the system, The advice that’s always given is don’t react. Don’t feed into it,” he said.