For two decades, Prince Harry remained mostly silent about the death of his mother, Princess Diana. Now, he has opened up about the death of his mother and how it affected his mental health.
Prince Harry shared in a recent interview with the Telegraph that in his late 20s, he crumbled and experienced two years of “total chaos.” He felt angry, on edge, and anxious during royal engagements, but he didn’t understand what was causing him to feel this way.
“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.”
It wasn’t until he was 28 years old that he began speaking friends, family, and ultimately a mental health professional about his struggles. He shares in the piece how living in the public eye left him feeling close to breaking down on numerous occasions. After seeing a therapist and taking up boxing, he says that he is now in a “good place.” He believes that having conversations about mental health struggles are crucial to one’s well-being.
“I know there is huge merit in talking about your issues, and the only thing about keeping it quiet is that it’s only ever going to make it worse. Not just for you, but everybody else around you as well, because you become a problem. I, through a lot of my twenties, was a problem and I didn’t know how to deal with it.”
Prince Harry hopes that by opening up about his struggles, it will encourage people to break the stigma surrounding mental health.
Read more from his interview with the Telegraph.
