The heartbreaking reason why Prince Harry regrets not talking about his mother’s death
Losing a parent at any age is obviously traumatic, but the stress is undoubtedly heightened if you’re working through personal issues in the public eye. Like say, if you’re a member of the Royal Family.
Prince Harry was only 12 when he lost his mother, Princess Diana, to a car crash.
Throughout the years he’s remained quite tight-lipped about how her death affected him, though he recently opened up during a speech at Heads Together, a mental health charity which Harry started with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, aka Prince William and Kate Middleton.
In the presence of many sports stars who have experienced depression and other conditions during their careers, Harry spoke candidly about his own struggles.
“It is OK to suffer, but as long as you talk about it. It is not a weakness. Weakness is having a problem and not recognising it and not solving that problem.” This suggests that Harry felt powerless in talking about how his mother’s death affected him—until now.
The prince went on to emphasize how easy it is for people to look at his royal life and assume he has everything together, even his personal affairs. “A lot of people think if you’ve got a job, if you’ve got financial security, if you’ve got a family, you’ve got a house, all that sort of stuff, everyone seems to think that is all you need and you are absolutely fine to deal with stuff.”
But Prince Harry is a human being with thoughts and feelings and problems, just like everybody else.
While talking to footballer Rio Ferdinand at the event, Harry admitted, “You know, I really regret not ever talking about it.” Ferdinand has three children and lost his wife to cancer last year, so he’s also going through a difficult stage in life.
Hopefully these interactions will encourage Harry to talk about his mother again, because no one should have to suffer in silence, even a member of the Royal Family.
Good on you, Harry!
