Prince Harry has opened up about the difficult times he faced following the loss of his mother Princess Diana. He revealed that after two years of chaos in this twenties his older brother William encouraged him to seek professional help. In a frank interview with The Telegraph newspaper, he said that his grief, which was compounded by life in the public eye, left him close to a breakdown.
Harry told the paper. ‘I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well.’ He continued ‘I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and sort of lies and misconceptions and everything is coming to you from every angle.’
The royal also revealed that he turned to boxing in an attempt to ease the aggression he felt about the loss of his mother, It is the first time that a member of the royal family has spoken so candidly about personal struggles with mental health. It is seen as part of a wider move by the younger royals to combat the stigma surrounding mental illness.