The Duke of Sussex has opened up about how he “always felt slightly different” from other members of the royal family and said his mother felt the same way.
In a new interview for readers of his memoir Spare, Prince Harry spoke about grieving his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, and what it is like to live with loss.
He also said he does not consider himself a “victim” and thought that sharing his experiences through his book would help “some people out there”.
Speaking to author Gabor Maté, an expert in trauma and healing, Harry said that the release of his book made him feel “incredibly free”, despite sources saying his father and brother are “furious” about it.
He described “feeling slightly different to the rest of my family” while growing up and that he lived in a “bubble” that was eventually burst by going to therapy.
During the livestreamed event, Harry said he “felt a huge weight off my shoulders” after Spare was released in January. It went on to become the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever, with 400,000 copies across hardback, ebook and audio formats sold on its first day of publication.
He told Dr Maté how therapy helped him overcome his mother’s death. Diana died in a fatal car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997, at the age of 36, when Harry was just 12.
“My awareness to my own story, my own self, was distorted, perhaps because of my environment and what it does to you, but also because of society,” he said.
“When I started to unpack 12-year-old Harry and when my mother died, it was scary. I thought that when I went to therapy that it would cure me, and that I would lose whatever I had left of my mother… it was the opposite – I turned into what I thought should be sadness to show that I missed her, into knowing that she would want me to be happy.”
The interview did not address recent revelations that the Sussexes were asked to vacate their UK home, Frogmore Cottage.
A royal expert told The Independent that it was “impossible” not to link King Charles III’s decision to evict the couple from the Windsor property, which was gifted to them by the late Queen Elizabeth II after their wedding in 2018, to the release of Spare.
It is understood that the King has offered the keys to Frogmore Cottage to his brother, the Duke of York, and wishes for him to move out of the Royal Lodge. However, Prince Andrew – who stepped down as a working royal over his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – is said to be “resisting” any move out of his current residence.
Harry and Meghan are “not fighting” the eviction, another source said. The couple live in a mansion in Montecito, California, with their two children, Archie and Lilibet.
It was suggested that what Harry said in his recent interview could determine whether or not he and Meghan will receive an invitation to the King and Queen Consort’s coronation this May.
Sources have now said that they will still get an invitation. However, without their usual accommodation, it is not known where the couple will stay if they do attend the coronation, although no commitments have been made as Harry is said to be seeking an apology from the King and Prince William.
It was reported today (Sunday 5 March) that the King may offer Andrew’s old suite of rooms in Buckingham Palace to the Sussexes for them to use during visits to the UK.
