Prince Harry reveals painful new details about his relationship with his family following the tragic loss of his mother, Princess Diana.
In a candid revelation, Prince Harry, known for his uncensored comments about life within the British royal family, has once again taken aim at his family. This time, the Duke of Sussex said he felt abandoned after the tragic loss of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997, and also after returning home from military service in Afghanistan.
In his new documentary series for Netflix, titled Heart of Invictus, Harry shared how the aftermath of his mother's death and his life in the military had a profound impact on his mental health. "The trigger for me was actually returning from Afghanistan, but the things that came up were from 1997, when I was 12," the 38-year-old duke said.
In his testimony, Harry expressed a feeling familiar to many who have faced trauma: the isolation that comes from feeling unsupported. "The biggest struggle for me is that no one around me could really help. I didn't have that support structure, that network, or that expert advice to identify what was really happening to me," he shared.
In Heart of Invictus, Prince Harry also recounted how he initially repressed his grief over the departure of his mother, Princess Diana, only for it to resurface later in his life. He described a pivotal moment when he realized he needed help: "Sadly, like most of us, the first time you really consider therapy is when you're on the floor in the fetal position, probably wishing you'd dealt with some of these things beforehand.".
At another point in the documentary, Prince Harry said that at the age of 28, an event occurred that led him to experience emotions for the first time in a long time. He described the sensation as if someone was shaken and then everything became "chaos." "I didn't have any emotions, I couldn't cry, I couldn't feel. I didn't know it at the time," he said.
As part of his healing process, Harry shared his desire to regain emotional control. He compared his emotions to being "spread all over the wall" and emphasized the importance of containment. He recalled a metaphor given by his therapist: "Choose what goes in and everything else will bounce back."
Spare, Harry's memoirs
Prince Harry's recent reflections are reminiscent of sentiments he previously expressed in his scathing memoir Spare. In the post, the prince conveyed the lack of compassion and support from his family following Diana's tragic death. Likewise, Harry recalled that his father, King Charles III, did not even hug him when he found out about the death of his mother, due to a car accident.
Spare, Prince Harry's autobiographical book, has been a resounding bestseller around the world, reaching a total of 3.2 million copies sold. According to the publisher Penguin Random House, 2.5 million copies in all formats (print, electronic and audio) correspond to the English language version. The publication has also achieved the Guinness record for the fastest-selling non-fiction book in history, according to auditor Nielsen.
