Prince Harry took mental health advice from MI6 after a former partner convinced him that he needed to see a therapist, it has been reported.
Cressida Bonas went out with the Duke of Sussex until 2014, and his difficult relationship with the media made it hard for them to behave naturally in public, claimed the author Tina Brown.
She has also now spoken out about how he had a tumultuous relationship with Prince William and his father Prince Charles long before Meghan Markle came into the picture, The Mirror reports.
Ms Brown's book, The Palace Papers: Inside The House of Windsor - The Truth and the Turmoil, details how Harry's difficulties with his brother and father had been building over the past couple of decades.
She said how there was a frosty feeling between Harry and William over their royal duties, with the older sibling "hogging the best briefs" in view of Harry who wanted the prestigious rhino and elephant charity, the Tusk Trust, which William had been patron of since 2005.
Brown said that Harry, meanwhile, mainly communicated with his dad through their private offices and their awkward relationship was summed up by a 30th birthday present.
"Would you like another dinner jacket?" Charles supposedly asked, with Harry replying: "Okay."
A source told Brown, reported the Daily Mail: "So the man from Savile Row came to measure him and when the suit arrived . . . one arm was shorter than the other and one leg shorter than the other, so it was . . . returned in a box, which seemed kind of analogous to their whole relationship."
And Brown said that Charles was particularly upset when Harry split with aristocratic actress Bonas in 2014 apparently saying to a party guest: “I don’t know what to do about Harry. We so miss Cressida.”
Ms Bonas was said to have found Harry sweet but also difficult, according to Brown.
What reportedly made the relationship difficult was Harry’s resentment towards the media.
While she "wanted to go out to dinner and touch knees under the table," a friend tells Brown, "Harry would walk four paces ahead of her, instead of holding her hand. When they went to the theatre, he left at the interval to get out without a hassle.
"She was either being dragged through the streets being yelled at or ignored while he threw a hissy fit."
At the time the press was talking of a royal romance but apparently the reality was date nights "glumly eating takeaway and watching Netflix at Nottingham Cottage, Harry’s none-too-tidy two-bedroom grace-and-favour bachelor pad in the grounds of Kensington Palace."
Ms Bonas was also worried about Harry's mental health and persuaded him to seek advice which he did from MI6.
"There was a need for someone who would be incredibly discreet and who understood what it’s like to have a public version of your life and a private version of your life," a Brown source said. "Therapists at MI6, that’s what they do."
Harry split, though, with Ms Bonas with "a sweet letter saying 'I admire you, I wish you well and above all thank you for helping me to address my demons and seek help'," said Brown.
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