Speaking candidly in his new Netflix series, Heart of Invictus, Prince Harry claimed he had “no support” from the Royal Family to deal with his trauma.
The Duke of Sussex recalled “lying on the floor in the foetal position” as he tried to come to terms with what he’d seen on his tour of Afghanistan.
Opening up in the second episode, titled Invisible Injuries, Prince Harry stated: “I can only speak from my personal experience, my tour of Afghanistan in 2011, flying Apaches.
“Somewhere after that, there was an unravelling and the trigger to me was returning from Afghanistan.
“But the stuff that was coming up was from the age of… from 1997, from the age of 12.”
He continued: “Losing my mum at such a young age, the trauma that I had, I was never really aware of.
“It was never discussed. I didn’t talk about it. And I’ve suppressed it like most youngsters would have done.
“But then when it all came fizzing out, I was bouncing off the walls.
“Like, what is going on here? I’m now feeling everything as opposed to being numb.
“The biggest struggle for me was no one around me really could help.
“I didn’t have that support structure, that network, or that expert advice to identify what was actually going on with me.
“Unfortunately, like most of us, the first time you really consider therapy is when you’re lying on the floor in the foetal position, probably wishing that you dealt with some of this stuff previously.
“That’s what I really want to change. I’ve always wanted the Invictus Games and the support that comes with that all year round to be a net to catch those individuals.”
In the previous episode, Prince Harry was seen looking nervous as he returned to the red carpet with wife Meghan Markle for the first time since stepping down as senior members of the Royal Family.
Harry could be heard whispering: “We haven’t done this for a while,” as Meghan replied: “I know.”
He continued: “My heart’s like ‘digadigadiga.'” Harry was later seen trying to calm himself before making a speech to those at the Salute To Freedom Gala in New York in 2021.
Heart of Invictus is available to stream on Netflix now.
