Prince Harry says he ‘always felt different’ to his family in latest interview
Prince Harry has said that he “always felt different” from the rest of his family, and that Princess Diana felt the same.
The Duke of Sussex opened up about grief and trauma in an online conversation, in which he opened up about his fear of losing the memories of his mother and his journey with therapy – including marijuana.
In conversation with Dr. Gabor Maté, an author on trauma and addiction, told Harry that he “lifted a huge weight off my shoulders” after the release of his controversial memoir, Spare, and insisted he was not a “victim” or seeking sympathy.
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He said his own reaction to the book’s publication was to feel “incredibly free” and described it as an “act of service” to help others break the taboo surrounding mental health issues.
The interview revolved around the topic of ‘living with loss’ and left the Duke of Sussex reflecting on his own journey through mental health therapies and treatments.
It didn’t touch on recent royal revelations such as the recent request for Harry and his wife Meghan to vacate their British base, Frogmore Cottage, which is in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The coronation of King Charles was also not discussed.
Harry said he makes sure to “smother” his own children with “love and affection” after speaking about his own emotionally distant childhood, when such displays of affection were rare.
“As a father, I feel very responsible for not passing on any trauma or … negative experiences I had as a child,” he said.
He also spoke of fears that attending therapy would erase precious memories of his mother Princess Diana after her death when Harry was just 12.
“One of the things I feared the most was losing the feeling I had for my mother … whatever I had managed to hold on to my mother,” he said, but added that he recognized that she ‘just wanted him to be happy’.
Discussing his relationship with his wife Meghan, Harry said he was “eternally grateful” to her for helping him change his perspective and called her an “extraordinary human being”. But he added that his relationship with Meghan gave him a “crash course” in the “shocking” reality of racism.
In the California fireside chat, Harry also shared how marijuana helped him “cope with the trauma and pain of the past,” but cocaine “did nothing for him.”
The audience consisted of customers of Harry’s recent memoir, which contained explosive claims about his relationship with his brother William.
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