Harry said he slipped into depression for about two weeks after an adrenaline crash that came within two or three days of the couple's break in Canada in 2019.
Harry said he did not cry for nearly two decades after his mother, Princess Diana, died in a Paris car crash on 31 August 1997, when he was 12.
Harry said he never moves away from his family for more than ten days, which he described as the key to balancing his work with his roles as a father and husband.
Harry said public appearances once caused panic attacks, including on the commute to work, and that he still has physical reactions at engagements.
Prince Harry said he slipped into depression in 2019, after he and his wife Meghan left Britain for a six-week break in Canada to consider their future. Weeks later the couple announced they would stop being working members of the royal family. Harry said his body had been pumped full of adrenaline in the stressful royal environment, and that within two or three days in Canada he experienced a crash he had never felt before. He described needing stress to make his brain function, and said he became useless around the house. The low lasted about two weeks.
“I actually slipped into depression for about two weeks and I felt like I couldn't function without adrenaline.”
Harry said his mother, Princess Diana, died in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997, when he was 12. He told the session he had been emotionally numb for a long time and had not cried for nearly two decades after her funeral. He also said he felt guilty about being happy without her, and that he believed he had to keep grieving to show he missed her.
“I felt I had to be sad and to appear emotionally numb to show her that I missed her.”
Harry also described two deployments to Afghanistan with the British Army between 2007 and 2013. In his twenties, he said, he went to war twice believing it would help him escape his feelings, but it did not work that way.
Harry said a therapist suggested he spray his mother's perfume to unlock memories, because he had forgotten the sound of her voice and her laugh. He described the effect as knocking down bricks so that memories and experiences could begin to surface. Therapy helped him understand that his mother only wanted him to be happy. Harry now describes a personal rule about his family life.
“The key to this balance between joy and happiness is that I never move away from my family for more than ten days.”
The conversation was held with Mary-Frances O'Connor, a neuroscientist and professor at the University of Arizona, as part of Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss, a course of 20 lessons on the MasterClass platform. The course is timed to coincide with World Mental Health Day.
Harry said public appearances brought panic from start to finish, beginning when he put on his suit, jacket and tie and continuing as he stepped out of a car in front of cameras. Over time, he said, the stress turned into panic attacks on the way to work, which made him realise something more serious lay behind it. He said his greatest fear was sweating and looking unkempt in front of the public. Public appearances can still trigger physical reactions in him, though he said he now handles them better.
Harry and Meghan moved back to Britain two months ago with their son Prince Archie, 7, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 5, after six years living in California. Harry still campaigns on mental health issues with his brother, Prince William. The two are barely on speaking terms, however, since Harry repeatedly publicly criticised his family in interviews and his memoir.
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Prince Harry told a MasterClass grief course that a low followed his 2019 break in Canada, lasting about two weeks after an adrenaline crash. He also said he did not cry for nearly two decades after his mother, Princess Diana, died in 1997.
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