Prince Harry sought the help of therapists at MI6 for his mental health, a new book about the royals has claimed.
The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor – the Truth and the Turmoil, written by former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, explores more than 30 years of the lives of the Queen and her immediate family.
The author claims Harry decided to get therapy after a former girlfriend, Cressida Bonas – whom he dated for two years – voiced concerns about his mental health.
Ms Brown says the prince sought the advice of his mother’s friend Julia Samuel, who had experience working as a bereavement counsellor in the NHS, and from MI6.
An unnamed source, said to be close to Harry at the time, said the prince wanted to find a therapist what would be both discreet, and understood what it was like to have a public persona that was separate from your private life.
Harry has spoken candidly about his mental health struggles in the past.
Last May, he released The Me You Can’t See, a five-part documentary series in which he discussed the impact of Princess Diana’s death during several conversations with Oprah Winfrey.
In one episode, viewers saw him take part in a form of therapy called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, which involves a series of rapid eye movements and aims to help patients revisit and come to terms with past trauma they may have repressed.
Ms Brown’s bombshell book also documents Harry’s relationship with Meghan Markle, whom he married in 2018.
Prince William is claimed to have initially expressed concern over the couple’s romance as he worried Meghan would face unique pressure if she joined the royal family as she had not had long enough to put roots down in the UK.
But Harry was not swayed by his brother’s fears, Ms Brown writes.
Instead, the Duke of Sussex felt the most effective way to protect Meghan would be to marry her “as quickly as possible”, so that she could receive the same police protection he did while he was a working royal.
The Independent has contacted representatives for the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex for comment.
As well as the Queen, the book covers the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and Duchess or Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The author says she has spoken to more than 120 sources and goes into great detail about the calamities faced by the monarchy over the last three decades.
The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor - The Truth and the Turmoil is published by Century on 26 April at £20.
