LONDON, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Harry fell into depression when he took a break from royal duties in 2019 before he formally stepped down, he told a videocast about grief, where he also discussed feeling “emotionally numb” after his mother died.
Harry, the younger son of King Charles, has been open about his mental health struggles and how the sudden death of his mother Princess Diana in a car crash when he was 12 has affected his life.
“I’d spent so long emotionally numb to a large extent because nobody told me joy was still allowed,” he said on a Masterclass videocast called “Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss”.
He also recalled the stressful period in 2019 when tension with the rest of the royal family was mounting, and he and his wife Meghan went to Canada for a six-week break to consider their future.
“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, according to media reports.
“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.
“I actually slipped into depression for about two weeks and I felt like I couldn’t function without adrenaline.”
Weeks after their break in Canada, Harry and Meghan returned to Britain where it was announced that they would stop being working members of the royal family.
Two months ago, the couple moved back to Britain with their son Prince Archie, 7, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 5, after six years living in California.
Campaigning to raise awareness of mental health issues is one thing Harry still shares with his brother, heir-to-the-throne Prince William. The pair are barely on speaking terms since Harry repeatedly publicly criticised his family in interviews and his memoir.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Kate Holton)
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