Friday, 15 Nov 2024

Prince Harry admits flying back to UK makes him feel ‘tense’ and ‘London is a trigger’

Prince Harry: Lorraine discusses Duke’s ‘ashamed’ comment

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Prince Harry laid bare his soul during the docu-series he co-created with Oprah Winfrey, The Me You Can’t See. In the third episode of the newly-released show, the Duke of Sussex opened up about therapy for “disturbing memories”.

And he also revealed how he has felt “a bit tense and uptight” when returning to the UK. Speaking on the Apple TV+ show The Me You Can’t See he said: “For most of my life I always felt worried, concerned, a little bit tense and uptight whenever I fly back into the UK, whenever I fly back into London. “I was like ‘Why do I feel so uncomfortable?’ “And I could never understand why. I was aware of it. “I wasn’t aware of it at the time I was younger but after I started doing therapy and stuff like that. I became aware of it. “For me, London is a trigger because of what happened to my mum.”

Opening up on his therapy sessions, the Duke of Sussex said his therapist suggested being in the UK makes Harry feel “helpless” and as if he were trapped.

The Duke said: “Being hunted, helpless and knowing you can’t do anything about it. There is no escape”.

Prince Harry and Meghan left the UK in mid-March 2020, after completing their last royal engagements.

A few weeks later, on April 1, they officially ceased to be full-time working royals. 

By then, they had already relocated to California, where Archie and Meghan have remained throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Prince Harry returned to the UK for the first time in April, to attend the funeral of Prince Philip.

During his nine-day stay, the Duke had the chance to also meet a few members of his family including newborn August Philip Hawke, the son of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, and reportedly held two conversations with the Queen.

Prince Harry and Oprah worked on their mental health series for Apple TV+ for several months. 

The Duke announced first announced this project in April 2019, when he was still a full-time working royal.

The series was scheduled to debut one year later, but the coronavirus pandemic played a major role in delaying the release.

During each episode of the series, Harry and Oprah guided their guests in conversations about mental health.

But they also opened up about their own struggles and their approach to mental wellbeing. 

The Duke of Sussex said the worst period of his life started when he was 28 and lasted for the following four years.

During this period of time, he said he was experiencing panic attacks and severe anxiety.

To mask his emotions and struggles, he turned to alcohol and drugs, he recalled.

He said: “I would just start sweating. I would feel as though my body temperature was two or three degrees warmer than everybody else in the room.  

“I would convince myself that my face was bright red and therefore everybody could see how I was feeling, but no one would know why, so it was embarrassing.

“You get in your head about it and then you’re just like, ‘Everybody’s looking at me.’

“One bead of sweat feels like the whole face is pouring down.

“Just sweating, and then just all in my head going, ‘This is so embarrassing. “What are they thinking of me? They have no idea. I can’t tell them.'”

Harry added: “I was willing to drink. I was willing to take drugs. I was willing to try and do the things that made me feel less like I was feeling.

“But I slowly became aware that okay I wasn’t drinking Monday to Friday, but I would probably drink a week’s worth in one day on a Friday or a Saturday night. “And I would find myself drinking not because I was enjoying it but because I was trying to mask something.”

During the show, he also confessed it was Meghan who pushed him to seek a therapist.

He said: “I knew that if I didn’t do the therapy and fix myself that I was going to lose this woman who I could see spending the rest of my life with.

“When she said, ‘I think you need to see someone,’ it was in reaction to an argument that we had.

“And in that argument not knowing about it, I reverted back to 12-year-old Harry.  

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