In 2017, Prince Harry agreed to give a lengthy interview to Bryony Gordon. In the journalist’s podcast, the Duke of Sussex spoke on a very intimate subject: that of mental health.
He had broken the silence. In 2017, for the first time, Prince Harry decided to open up on the delicate subject of mental health. The Duke of Sussex, who at the time had never mentioned his battle, decided to talk about it at length in the Mad World podcast hosted by Bryony Gordon.
“I have spent most of my life saying ‘all is well’. And most of us aren’t ready to look any further,” said Meghan Markle’s husband. I can certainly say that losing my mother at the age of twelve and therefore holding all my emotions back for the last twenty years has had a serious effect not only on my personal life but also on my work”.
A moving speech, which astonished many British people, but also the journalist. On Lorraine, she recounted how surreal it was to arrive at Kensington Palace to interview Prince Harry, especially as she describes herself as a “chaotic” person: “I still remember sitting on the sofa with him in Kensington Palace so clearly, and I was so amazed”.
“I have a long history of alcoholism, drug addiction, OCD. I’ve always been a mess, but I guess that’s why he chose to talk to me about it,” continued Bryony Gordon. The journalist said it was “crucial” that a member of the British establishment, who “embodies the upper elite”, should talk about mental health.
“It was such an honour to be part of this moment,” she added. I think people have forgotten how crucial it is. I still have people saying four years later how much of a difference it has made. It was a really important moment and I’m grateful to her for coming on the podcast to talk about it”.
Prince Harry has been talking about this very intimate subject for several times now. Most notably with Meghan Markle last October. To mark World Mental Health Day, the couple participated in the Teenager Therapy podcast where the Duchess talked about the lengthy online harassment she suffered.
Prince Harry : I made a choice not to read or see and to walk away from it all
“I can talk about it personally because I have been told that in 2019, I was the most trolled person in the whole world. Yet for eight months of that year, I didn’t even show up. I was on maternity leave, or with my baby. But in spite of that, we were able to make things.
And it’s almost insurmountable,” said Meghan Markle. And it’s so huge that you can’t even know what it feels like, because it doesn’t matter if you’re 15 or 25 years old, if people say things about you that aren’t true, it can only hurt your mental health”.
Touched by his wife’s long distress, Prince Harry stood up for the mother of his son. But also of all those who suffer mentally. “It’s very easy to get caught up and stuck in a negative spiral, but we all have the choice to try to get rid of the negativity in our lives (…) I made the choice not to read or see and to get away from it all, to concentrate on the positive and optimistic side,” the Duke assured. What I have seen in recent years are people hiding behind online pseudonyms. They say things that no one would say to their face.”
Photos credits: ABC News life