Prince Harry ‘slipped into depression’ following move with Meghan and Archie
Prince Harry has opened up about the devastating toll years of stress and grief took on him, revealing he 'slipped into depression' shortly after moving to Canada with Meghan Markle and their young son, Prince Archie.
The Duke of Sussex, 42, made the deeply personal admission in a new MasterClass, released earlier today (8 October), in which he reflected on his mental health, his military career and the grief he carried following the death of his mother, Princess Diana.
Harry and Meghan's move to Canada came at a particularly turbulent time for the couple.
The pair had spent Christmas 2019 in Canada with Archie, who had been born in London in May that year, after previously living at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.
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They had stepped away from the UK for some time at the end of 2019, before announcing in January 2020 that they planned to step back as senior working members of the Royal Family.
At the time, the couple said they wanted to become financially independent and split their time between the UK and North America.
They ultimately left Canada for the US in March 2020, settling in Meghan's native California, where they would go on to establish their family life.
They later welcomed their second child, Princess Lilibet, in 2021.
The Sussexes have since returned to the UK in August of this year, with the family reportedly settling into a private home outside London and enrolling their children in British schools.
But as Harry now reflects on the period when he first stepped away from royal life, he has revealed just how difficult the transition actually was.
Speaking about his arrival in Canada, Harry said he experienced an 'adrenaline crash' just days after leaving the stressful environment he had become accustomed to.
"Being in Canada, away from the stressful environment where presumably my body was just pumped full of adrenaline, within two or three days, I experienced this adrenaline crash, something that I’d never experienced before," he said.
"It was as if I needed stress in order to get the adrenaline to make my brain function because I became useless around the house," he continued. "I actually slipped into depression for about two weeks, and I felt like I couldn’t function without adrenaline."
The Duke recalled that the move was intended 'to get some space away from everything just to be able to think'.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Harry spoke about how he had dealt with grief and difficult experiences for much of his adult life.
"For 15, 20 years, when I was being asked, 'Are you okay?' My response was, ‘I’m fine.’ It was numbness, emotional shutdown," he explained. "And without knowing it, adrenaline was pushing me, was driving me."
The Duke also spoke candidly about the loss of his mother, Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997 when he was just 12 years old.
He explained that, for years after her death, part of him struggled to accept that she was really gone.
"I believed that she had created this exit to get away from all the things that were destroying her life and that she was gonna reenter the fray in some disguise and then whisk me and my brother away," he said.
Harry also reflected on the guilt he felt about eventually finding happiness without his mother.
"I’d spent so long emotionally numb, to a large extent, because I felt disloyal and guilty for the possibility of being happy and joyful without her," he shared. "I felt like I had to be sad and I had to be emotionally numb in order to prove to her that I missed her."
However, Harry said his perspective eventually changed: "But the reality is, what I discovered was actually that she just wanted me to be happy. And that was a huge mental shift for me.
"It freed me, and it gave me a whole different outlook on life."
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677.
If you're experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is there to support you. They're open from 5pm–midnight, 365 days a year. Their national number is 0800 58 58 58 and they also have a webchat service if you're not comfortable talking on the phone.
Topics: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Royal Family, Mental Health, Celebrity
Rhiannon Ingle