Prince Harry insists he is not a “victim” searching for sympathy over his life.
The royal instead thinks sharing intimate details of his life is and “act of service” for the world, he said during his 90-minute online sit-down with trauma specialist and self-help guru Dr Gabor Maté on Saturday. (04.03.23)
Harry was told by the doctor he was facing two kinds of people – those who had not read his memoir ‘Spare’, which he released in January, but who were “resentful” towards the royal, and those who were grateful he was sharing his secrets.
Harry replied: “I definitely don't see myself as a victim,” and added he hoped opening up about his mental health and family life “will help some people out there”, which made it feel like he was doing an “act of service”.
He added about going into therapy after the 1997 death of his mum Princess Diana when he was 12: “My awareness of myself was distorted by my environment but also society.
“When I found my therapist and started to unpack 12-year-old Harry at the point my mother died was scary.
“One of the things I was most scared about was losing the memory of my mum. I thought therapy would cure me but I’d lose what I had managed to hold on to of my mother.
“It was the opposite. I turned the sadness into realising she just wanted me to be happy. That was a huge weight off my chest.”
Harry’s live chat comes amid reports he and his 41-year-old wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex – with whom he shares son Archie, three, and 20-month-old Lilibet – were given “weeks” by his father King Charles to move out of their grace-and-favour home Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, which may now be handed to Prince Andrew.
It is still unclear whether the couple will attend Charles’ May 6 coronation, but there have been reports the pair may take front row seats at the event.
Tagged in Princess Diana Prince Harry Prince Andrew