Prince Harry’s decision to talk to a trauma expert could lead him to publicly address some of his own issues.
Gabor Maté, 79, takes part in the livestream conversation with the prince about “living with loss and the importance of personal healing.”
Difficulties Harry has faced in his life have remained largely private and personal to the father of two until recently.
But his telltale autobiography—combined with a series of televised sit-down interviews—has brought them all fully into the public arena.
Above all, the death of his mother, Princess Diana, has shaped his life and his views on certain topics.
Here, MailOnline explores possible traumas and their effects that Harry may be working out with Dr. Maté:
More than anything else, Princess Diana’s death when Harry was just 12 has defined his life
Walking next to his mother’s coffin
This is a particularly traumatic memory for Harry, who has spoken of it touchingly on a number of occasions.
The image of the young prince walking behind his mother’s coffin can be seen in documentaries he made and contemporary reports of the time.
In his production of Apple TV’s The Me You Can’t See, he recalls the feeling of suppressing his grief and sounds he can clearly remember.
He told host Oprah Winfrey, “For me, what I remember most is the sound of the hooves of the horses going through the Mall.
“It was like I was out of my body just walking through and doing what was expected of me.
“I showed one-tenth of the emotion everyone else showed: This was my mom—you haven’t even met her.”
Harry says every time he sees a camera it takes him back to the day his mother died
Camera flashes
Harry was only 12 years old when his mother Diana died in a car accident in Paris in August 1997.
He believes the paparazzi following the princess were responsible for the crash.
Harry says this has provoked a reaction every time he’s ever been photographed in public.
In 2017 he revealed, “I think I’m part of this family, in this role and this job, every time I see a camera, every time I hear a click, every time I see a flash, it brings me right back. .
“So in that sense it’s the worst memory of her life as opposed to the best.”
Harry, William and Kate together on stage 1 of the Tour de France on July 5, 2014 in Harrogate
Performing royal duties
Harry has said in the past that his mother’s death manifested itself in a number of problems for him during a certain period of his life.
The Duke of Sussex says aged 28 to 32, he was heartbroken at the prospect of fulfilling his royal duties.
Harry says he would binge drink on Friday or Saturday to mask the problem.
He said it was so severe that it would physically affect him in the form of uncontrollable sweating.
The Prince revealed: “I was completely blown away mentally. Every time I put on a suit and a tie… I have to play the part and go, ‘good, gameface’, look in the mirror and say, ‘let’s go’. Before I even left the house, I was pouring with sweat. I was in fight or flight mode.
“I was willing to drink, I was willing to do drugs, I was willing to try to do the things that made me feel less like the way I felt.”
Much of Prince Harry’s autobiography surrounds his feelings about being ‘William’s spare’
Being the reserve
The Duke’s book isn’t titled by accident, it’s how he says he feels after being born into a family where he says he just considered a substitute for heir William.
During the autobiography, he suggests that this feeling dominated much of his life.
In one of the weirder parts of the books, he admits to being upset that his brother got a bigger room than he did at Balmoral when they were kids.
He seemed annoyed. William had a better room with a great view, while he had a smaller and less luxurious bedroom in the castle.
Elsewhere, he writes that he grew up knowing he was there to give his older brother, Wills, an organ donation if he needed it.
“I was brought into the world just in case anything happened to Willy,” he said, claiming that his parents and grandparents even referred to him and his brother as the heir and reserve as a form of “abbreviation.”
Prince Harry revealed that he had killed 25 Taliban while serving in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Harry has spoken proudly about his time in the military in Afghanistan and has said it gave him the freedom to be himself.
But he has disclosed that he killed 25 Taliban while in the theater of war.
And his actions in damaging relationships with his family through a series of damaging revelations have been called into question.
Retired Colonel Philip Ingram believes he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
He told Sky News: “A lot of the behavior I see in Prince Harry is almost triggers for me.
“They remind me of some of my behavior when I was suffering from pretty severe PTSD.
“I see a person in trouble and a person who needs help, not someone who needs to be constantly criticized in his ways.”
Prince Harry has talked about seeing therapists because he feared losing Meghan
Fear of losing Meghan
Prince Harry has shared how an argument with his wife put him on the path of several therapists in an attempt to “fix himself.”
The duke said someone had told him that he sometimes returned to the age when his mother died.
Harry explains how his desire to seek help was because he was afraid of losing Meghan.
He said, ‘When she said, ‘I think you should see someone,’ it was in response to an argument we had.
And in that fight without my knowing it, I fell back on 12-year-old Harry.
‘I’ve seen doctors. I saw doctors. I saw therapists. I saw alternative therapists. I saw all kinds of people, but it was meeting and being Meghan. I knew that if I didn’t take therapy and heal myself, I would lose this woman I could see spend the rest of my life with.”
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