Harry on ‘chaos’ after death of Diana

Diana’s death took mental toll on prince

LONDON • Prince Harry has disclosed that he sought counselling after enduring two years of “total chaos” while still struggling in his late twenties to come to terms with the death of his mother.

The prince says in an interview with The Daily Telegraph that he “shut down all his emotions” for almost two decades after losing his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, despite his brother, Prince William, trying to persuade him to seek help.

Disclosing that he has spoken to a professional about his mental health, he describes how he only began to address his grief when he was 28 after feeling “on the verge of punching someone” and facing anxiety during royal engagements.

“I can count myself very lucky,” he said. “It was 20 years of not thinking about it and two years of total chaos.”

Prince Harry has decided to give an unprecedented insight into his past in the hope it will encourage people to break the stigma surrounding mental health issues.

Prince Harry, now 32, who was 12 when his mother died, says that he spent his teenage years and twenties determined not to think about her. “I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well,” he said.

Of life in the public eye, he said: “I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and sort of lies and misconceptions and everything are coming to you from every angle.” Asked whether he had been to see a “shrink” to “let it all rip,” he said: “I’ve done that a couple of times, more than a couple of times, but it’s great.”

The prince admitted that at times he had struggled with aggression and turned to boxing as an outlet for his frustration. “During those years I took up boxing, because everyone was saying boxing is good for you and it’s a really good way of letting out aggression,” he said.

He eventually sought support with the encouragement of his brother and others close to him, who told him: “Look, you really need to deal with this. It is not normal to think that nothing has affected you.”

Since learning to talk honestly about his feelings, he said, he now feels able to put “blood, sweat and tears” into making a difference for others.

“The experience I have had is that once you start talking about it, you realize that actually you’re part of quite a big club,” he said.