Prince Harry has revealed he slipped into a "deep depression" for two weeks after stepping back from royal duties, describing an "adrenaline crash" following the couple's move to Canada.
In a revealing interview with a therapist, the Duke of Sussex spoke about the "stressful environment" he left behind and how he struggled to function without adrenaline. He also opened up about not being able to cry for nearly 20 years after the death of his mother, Princess Diana.
Adrenaline crash after Megxit
Harry and Meghan recently returned to the UK from California, six years after stepping back from royal duties. Harry said he finally found happiness with his wife before "slipping into depression" after the couple stepped back under the glare of the media.
"We moved to Canada to get some space away from everything and simply think," he said. "Within two or three days of leaving that stressful environment, I experienced an adrenaline crash unlike anything I'd ever felt before."
"It was as though I needed stress for my brain to function. I became useless around the house. I slipped into depression for about two weeks and felt like I couldn't function without adrenaline."
Grief for Princess Diana
The duke also addressed his grief for his mother, saying for many years he felt like he had to be sad to prove he missed her. "The reality is, what I discovered was actually she just wanted me to be happy," he said.
Harry revealed he did not cry for almost 20 years after his mother's death and thinks of her "pretty much every night and then most mornings." Opening up on her death, he said: "You would think I had the best help in the world. I'm a prince, for God's sake, but I was still grieving and didn't have any place to put those feelings," describing emotions he bottled up for "15 or 20 years."
After fears he would forget his mother's laugh, a therapist recommended spraying her perfume to allow vivid memories of Diana to resurface. "It was like being transported to another time," Harry said. "It unlocked everything that had been locked away. Spraying my mother's scent was almost like knocking certain bricks through so that I could see through and certain memories and experiences could start seeping back."
Harry also said: "Everything I do, everything I put my energy towards, I hope that my mother will be proud of. Trying to continue and protect her legacy, what I didn't realise was that the work I was drawn to was so similar to the work she was doing."
Earl Spencer's echoes of the past
Diana's brother Earl Spencer has spoken of how the treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has "echoes" of what happened to his sister. "I think it would be really beholden on people to learn from Diana's example," he told the BBC.
"I'm not here to speak for Harry and Meghan, but for anyone who's being destroyed in this way daily, it must be such a cancerous influence in their life." Earl Spencer said he had seen Diana's "tears of despair" over the extensive coverage of her personal life and described her as "very, very sensitive to criticism."
Diana, who married King Charles in 1981, was subjected to intense public scrutiny throughout her public life. Earl Spencer said she was "really brought low by all that criticism," adding that it was a "pity" to see "echoes of that now" in the treatment of his nephew and his wife.
