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Prince Harry has opened up about how his stint in the army triggered long-suppressed emotions about his late mom, Princess Diana.
The 38-year-old was speaking in his new Netflix docuseries, Heart of Invictus, about the lives of the injured and sick soldiers who take part in his Invictus Games – a sporting event he started in 2014. The docuseries was released on 30 August, a day before the 26th anniversary of Diana's death.
“I can only speak for my personal experience, my tour of Afghanistan in 2012 flying Apaches [helicopters]. Somewhere after that there was an unravelling,” the British royal reveals in a candid conversation featured in the documentary.
“But the stuff that was coming up was from 1997, from the age of 12. Losing my mum at such a young age, the trauma that I had I was never really aware of, it was never discussed.
“I didn’t really talk about it. I suppressed it like most youngsters would have done – but then when it all came fizzing out, I was bouncing off the walls. I was like, ‘What's going on here? I'm now feeling everything as opposed to being numb’.”
Harry served in the British army for 10 years and did his first tour to Afghanistan in 2007 at the age of 22. But his tour was cut short after a media outlet leaked his whereabouts, making him a target. He returned five years later in 2012 and retired from active duty in January 2013.
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In what some are interpreting as another diss at the British royal family, Harry says his biggest struggle was that there was “no one around” to help him.
“Unfortunately, like most of us, the first time you really consider therapy is when you're lying on the floor in the foetal position probably wishing you'd dealt with some of this stuff previously, and that’s what I really want to change.”
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Harry, who quit royal family duties along with his wife, Meghan, in 2020 citing bullying and emotional abuse, is an ardent fan of therapy and has previously credited it with helping him deal with his mother’s death.
Earlier this year he said he’d wanted the royal family to get therapy so they'd be able to understand him better.
He made the revelation during a live therapy session with Dr Gabor Maté, saying that since getting help he’d learnt a “new language and the people that I was surrounded by didn’t speak that language”.
“So I actually felt more pushed aside and then I said to my therapist: ‘Ok, I’ve got a problem. This is working for me . . . so that I can now live a truly authentic life and be genuinely happy and be a better dad for my kids, but at the same time I’m feeling more and more distant from my loved ones and my family. This is a problem'," he added.
In 2021 he was hired as a Chief Impact Officer for an American company called BetterUp, which helps people unlock their potential through mental coaching.
Heart of Invictus is the latest offering from the Sussexes on the streaming giant. Their previous project was their controversial doccie titled Harry & Meghan.
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This year’s Invictus games will kick off in Düsseldorf, Germany, on 9 September, a day after the one-year anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's death.
Harry and Meghan reportedly don't have any plans to visit the royal family in England to take part in any commemorative services. Instead, Harry is set to attend a charity event the WellChild Awards in London on 8 September before heading to Germany.
Sources: people.com, thenews.com, news.com.au
