Prince Harry had a lot to say in his new interview!
The 38-year-old royal sat down with trauma therapist Dr. Gabor Maté on Saturday to discuss his bombshell memoir, Spare. As you know, Prince Harry’s book covered a good chunk of his experiences while in the royal family, including that King Charles would joke about not being his real dad, getting into a physical altercation with Prince William, and more. So the two men had a lot to cover in their hour-long virtual session together! But one of the most notable parts of their discussion was the topic of mental health.
According to TMZ, the doctor believed that Prince Harry might have had post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit disorder, anxiety, and depression based on their conversation and his book. The Duke of Sussex, who has been very open about going to therapy and his mental health, then admitted that his therapist previously diagnosed him with PTSD. Dr. Maté explained it most likely stems from his childhood, including going through the traumatic death of his mother, Princess Diana, when he was 12 years old.
Speaking about his mom, Harry shared that he always related to her feelings of not fitting in with the royal family. He explained, per People:
“Certainly throughout my life, throughout my younger years, I always felt slightly different to the rest of my family. I felt strange being in this container, and I know that my mum felt the same. It makes sense to me — it didn’t make sense at the time — I felt as though my body was in there, but my head was out, but sometimes it was vice-versa. The times that I ventured towards being myself, being my authentic true self, whether it was through media or family or whatever it was, it was almost like, ‘Don’t be yourself, come back to what you’re expected to be,’ if that makes sense.”
When the Archewell founder sought therapy, he said he felt the disconnect between him and his loved ones had just continued to grow:
“A lot of families are complicated, a lot of families are dysfunctional, but for me when I was doing therapy regularly… I felt that I learned a new language.”
Noting that his family “didn’t speak that language,” Harry continued:
“This is working for me and I’m starting to go back to the point of trauma and unpack everything so I can be truly happy… but at the same time I’m feeling more and more distant from my loved ones and my family.”
Of course, the distance between them has a lot to do with the fact that the royal family hasn’t been too happy with the him and Meghan Markle talking about how they were mistreated during their time as senior working members and airing out their other dirty laundry. While Harry has been open about the feud, he does not feel sorry for himself at all and never aimed to paint himself as a “victim” through the couple’s tell-all pieces:
“I certainly don’t see myself as a victim. I’m really grateful to be able to share my story in the hopes that it will help, empower, encourage others and, hopefully, let people understand — again back to the human experience — we are in some shape and form all connected, especially through trauma.”
When Harry began to write his memoir, he told Dr. Maté that he wanted it to “be an act of service”:
“I know how important it is to share these stories; how you can save a life and improve lives because you’re almost giving people permission to talk about their own stuff and be themselves.”
Despite what everyone (and South Park) may say, Harry insisted he also wasn’t looking for “sympathy” at the end of the day and just felt his story could “help someone or some people out there.” And while Harry knows he’s “lost a lot” after leaving the royal family in 2020, he feels he has “gained a lot,” expressing:
“To see my kids grow up here the way that they are. I just can’t imagine how that would have been possible back in that environment. The way that I understand it is, you can every day try your best to make sure that you don’t hand any traumas that you have as a parent. But if you’re still stuck within the same environment, it kind of almost feels self-defeating. So, to be able to change the root cause of so much of those issues, to be able to up and move, that, to me, feels as though it gives me much more of a chance — and my wife, as parents — to be able to bring our kids up in a way that is really, really beneficial and good.”
Wonder what the royals feel about this latest interview. Reactions to Prince Harry’s latest confessions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments below!
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