Prince Harry has moaned about his jet set lifestyle when he was in his 20s and said being the Royals’ ‘yes man’ to fly abroad led to a ‘burnout’.
The Duke of Sussex said his life ‘became really hectic but to the point of exhaustion’ during his second explosive sit down with Oprah Winfrey.
The 36-year-old complained about his family sending him to Nepal in 2016 and said he felt like he was their ‘yes man’ for foreign jaunts.
The comments came as Harry and Oprah spoke in detail about their histories of trauma and anxiety in The Me You Can’t See on Apple TV.
The Prince dropped another series of nuclear ‘truth bombs’ on his family and accused them of ‘total silence’ and ‘neglect’ when Meghan was suicidal.
The Duke of Sussex said his life ‘became really hectic but to the point of exhaustion’ during his second explosive sit down with Oprah Winfrey
The 36-year-old complained about his family sending him to Nepal in 2016 and said he felt like he was their ‘yes man’ for foreign jaunts
The comments came as Harry and Oprah spoke in detail about their histories of trauma and anxiety in The Me You Can’t See on Apple TV
Prince Harry and David Wiseman from the UK move bags of cement as they help Team Rubicon UK carry out rebuilding work in March, 2016, in Lapubesi, Nepal
In the second episode the Duke is onscreen sitting opposite Oprah as they talk about growing up as a member of ‘The Firm’.
Prince Harry told her: ‘Towards my late 20s everything became really hectic for me, but to the point of exhaustion.
‘I was travelling all over the place because, you know, from the family’s perspective I guess I was the person who like ”we need someone to go there. Nepal, Harry you go”.
‘I was always the yes man I was always the one willing to say yes. But that yes and yes and yes of course yes yes yes led to burnout.
‘And it was like someone had taken the lid off. All of the emotions that I had suppressed for so many years suddenly came to the forefront.’
He added: ‘I saw GPs, I saw doctors, I saw therapists I saw alternative therapists, I saw all sorts of people, but it was meeting and being with Meghan.
‘I knew that if I didn’t do therapy and fix myself, that I was going to lose this woman who I could see spending the rest of my life with.’
Prince Harry and Matt Fisher help move concrete as they help Team Rubicon UK carry out rebuilding work in March, 2016, in Lapubesi, Nepal
The Prince dropped another series of nuclear ‘truth bombs’ on his family and accused them of ‘total silence’ and ‘neglect’ when Meghan was suicidal. Pictured: A shot from the film
In the second episode the Duke is onscreen sitting opposite Oprah as they talk about growing up as a member of ‘The Firm’
Harry says he and Meghan were bullied and trapped by the Royal Family who tried to stop them leaving for America
The Me You Can’t See saw Harry accuse the Royal Family of ‘total neglect’ in his mental health documentary series with Oprah Winfrey and said he will not be bullied.
During the first three episodes, Harry addressed traumatic memories from his childhood, including the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, and harassment on social media of he and his wife Meghan.
‘Every single ask, request, warning, whatever it is, to stop just got met with total silence or total neglect,’ he told Winfrey, referring to his attempts to get assistance from his family with the attacks levelled at the Sussexes online.
‘We spent four years trying to make it work. We did everything that we possibly could to stay there and carry on doing the role and doing the job.’
The duke also told Winfrey his family did not speak about Diana’s death and expected him to just deal with the resulting press attention and mental distress.
The series comes after Harry earlier in May appeared to suggest his father, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh had failed as parents.
Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast, the duke said he wanted to ‘break the cycle’ of ‘genetic pain and suffering’ for the sake of his own children.
He said of Charles: ‘He’s treated me the way he was treated, so how can I change that for my own kids?’
He picked up the theme with Winfrey, telling her in the series released on Friday: ‘My father used to say to me when I was younger, he used to say to both William and I, ‘Well it was like that for me so it’s going to be like that for you.”
‘That doesn’t make sense. Just because you suffered doesn’t mean that your kids have to suffer, in fact quite the opposite – if you suffered, do everything you can to make sure that whatever negative experiences you had, that you can make it right for your kids,’ he said.
Harry said his family tried to prevent him and Meghan from leaving when she was having suicidal thoughts, insisting they were ‘neglected’ and ‘trapped’ but have no regrets about quitting for LA
In candid interviews with Oprah Winfrey on his new show, The Me You Can’t See, he said: ‘I thought my family would help, but every single ask, request, warning, whatever, it is just got met with total silence, total neglect
Harry and Meghan are pictured on January 16, 2019 – the night she told him she was suicidal
The now 36-year-old said his family told him to ‘play the game’ and life would improve. But he objected, telling Winfrey: ‘I’ve got a hell of a lot of my mum in me.
‘The only way to free yourself and break out is to tell the truth.’ Harry told Winfrey he would ‘never be bullied into silence’ in the future.
He said he did not go to his family when Meghan felt suicidal because he was ashamed the situation had got ‘that bad’ and also suspected the royals would not have been able to help.
The duke said: ‘That was one of the biggest reasons to leave, feeling trapped and feeling controlled through fear, both by the media and by the system itself which never encouraged the talking about this kind of trauma.
‘Certainly now I will never be bullied into silence.’
Pop superstar Lady Gaga and actress Glenn Close also featured in the documentaries, with Gaga discussing her serious mental health struggles after she was raped as a teenager.
The documentary series will focus on mental illness and mental wellness and aims to inspire viewers to have an honest conversation about the challenges people face and how to equip themselves with the tools to thrive.
Hours before it aired, Harry joined his brother William in criticising the BBC following an inquiry which found the broadcaster covered up ‘deceitful behaviour’ used by journalist Martin Bashir to secure his headline-making 1995 interview with their mother.