London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Harry: I feared losing memories of mum during therapy

Harry: I feared losing memories of mum during therapy

Prince Harry has said he "always felt slightly different" to his family, and that his late mother felt the same.

In an online conversation about grief, the Duke of Sussex said he feared losing memories of his mother Diana when he started therapy.

He also said he made sure to "smother" his children with affection to avoid passing on any "traumas" or "negative experiences" from his own upbringing.

His discussion was with Dr Gabor Maté, an author on trauma and addiction.

Their fireside conversation in California followed up themes of "living with loss" from his bombshell memoir, Spare.

Reflecting on the public response to the work, the Duke of Sussex insisted that he was not a "victim" or seeking sympathy.

He revealed that his own reaction to the controversial book's publication was to feel "incredibly free".

Prince Harry spoke about the racism experienced by his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex


"I felt a huge weight off my shoulders," he told Dr Maté, describing the book as an "act of service" to help others break the taboo about speaking about mental health problems.

Saturday's discussion focused on the prince's emotions, therapy and thoughts on mental health.

But it did not go into recent royal revelations, such as request for Harry and his wife Meghan to vacate Frogmore Cottage - or whether or not he would attend his father's coronation.

There were also no mentions of how the Royal Family, including his brother, had felt about his tell-all memoir.

Prince Harry described growing up "feeling slightly different to the rest of my family" - and had a sense of living in a disconnected "bubble", which therapy had helped him burst.

In front of an international online audience, he was asked about experiencing an emotionally distant childhood, with a lack of hugs and demonstrations of affection.

He said that with his own children, he was "making sure that I smother them with love and affection".

"As a father I feel a huge responsibility to ensure that I don't pass on any traumas or... negative experiences that I've had as a kid," he said.

He spoke repeatedly about the importance of therapy, even though it could drive a wedge between him and other relations.

But he said that he wrongly feared that it would erode his feelings about his mother, Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 when Harry was aged 12.

"One of the things I was most scared about was losing the feeling that I had of my mum... whatever I had managed to hold onto of my mother," said Prince Harry.

But he hadn't lost those feelings and had come to realise "that actually she just wanted me to be happy", he told Dr Maté.

Prince Harry's memoir has been an international best seller


The prince spoke about being "eternally grateful" for his wife Meghan in changing his perspective, calling her an "exceptional human being".

But he said meeting Meghan had given him a "crash course" in the experience of racism, which he described as "pretty shocking".

Prince Harry also defended the use of psychedelic medicine, saying it had helped him "deal with the traumas and pains of the past" and was like the "cleaning of the windscreen".

He said taking cocaine "didn't do anything for me" but that "marijuana is different, that actually really did help me".

To watch the online interview, the audience had to buy a copy of Prince Harry's best-selling memoir, which had made headlines with its unprecedented account of tensions between the royals and personal revelations.

It included claims of a physical altercation with his brother Prince William, and recorded his experiences of taking drugs and losing his virginity.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×