Prince Harry says that for several years he tried to ignore the grief caused by his mother’s death and eventually had to seek professional help to deal with his feelings.
Prince Harry photographed earlier this month. Photo: AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth/NTB scanpix.
In a rare candid interview with the newspaper The telegraph » said the 32-year-old British prince about his mother’s death.
– My way of dealing with it was to bury my head in the sand and not think about my mother, because how could that help? It would just make me sad. It wouldn’t bring her back, says the prince, who was just 12 when Princess Diana died in 1997.
In the interview, Harry says he started boxing to express the anger he felt.
Ask for help after 16
It wasn’t until the age of 28 that Harry sought professional healthcare at the urging of others, including the great support of his older brother, Prince William. The grief then led to two years of total chaos for the prince.
“Suddenly all this grief, which I had never dealt with, came to the surface and I realized that there was actually a lot there that I had to deal with,” he says.
The prince says that in recent times he has again faced the grief of losing his mother and the pressures of royal life.
-For the most part, I don’t know how we royals manage to keep our wits about us. I was very close to total breakdown several times, he says.
Transparency on mental health
The interview not only gives more insight into Harry’s inner life than any previous interview. It also breaks the British royal tradition of not talking about mental health.
Along with his brother William and his wife Kate, Harry supported a voluntary organization that works in the field of mental health. They argued that mental health needs to become as important as other health issues and that it should be possible to talk openly about mental health issues without being stigmatized.
Prince Harry says he is now in a good position, thanks to the bridge’s advice to seek help and the help he received.
(©NTB)
