Prince Harry Shares Harrowing Insight Into What 'Killed' Mom Princess Diana: 'I Stuck My Head In The Sand For Years'
Prince Harry says he intimately knew the cost of being a member of the British Royal Family because of his mother, Princess Diana.
As part of a trip to Australia with his wife, Meghan Markle, Harry was one of the keynote speakers at the InterEdge Summit at the CENTREPIECE venue at Melbourne Park on Thursday, April 16, and delivered a speech about workplace mental health.
In a discussion after his address with Australian business leader and former politician Brendan Nelson, Harry opened up feeling conflicted about his royal duties after his mother “died just before my 13th birthday.”
“I was like, ‘I don’t want this job. I don’t want this role — wherever this is headed, I don’t like it,'” Harry said, per People via PA Media. “It killed my mum and I was very much against it, and I stuck my head in the sand for years and years.”
Princess Diana died in a car accident in Paris in August 1997 while her driver was allegedly trying to escape photographers.
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“Eventually I realized, well, hang on, if there was somebody else in this position, how would they be making the most of this platform and this ability and the resources that come with it to make a difference in the world?” Harry continued. “And also, what would my mum want me to do? And that really changed my own perspective.”
“In my experience, loss is disorienting at any age,” Harry said earlier in his address. “Grief does not disappear because we ignore it. Experiencing that as a kid while in a goldfish bowl under constant surveillance, yes, that will have its challenges. And without purpose, it can break you.”
Harry added that having his own family with Meghan — their son Prince Archie, 6, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 4 — helped him find purpose.
“When a parent is overwhelmed, children feel it. When someone is supported, families feel it,” he noted, per People. “For me, one of the biggest shifts came when I realized that asking for help isn’t a weakness. It’s very much a form of strength.”