Prince Harry Says the Palace Met His Requests for Help With ‘Total Silence’

Prince Harry says his family—and the royal institution at large—did little to nothing to help him cope emotionally when media scrutiny over his relationship with Meghan Markle became unbearable. 

“I thought my family would help, but every single ask—request, warning, whatever—just got met with total silence, total neglect,” Prince Harry reveals in his new mental health docuseries series for Apple TV+, The Me You Can’t See, per People. “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. But Meghan was struggling.” The couple previously revealed Markle suffered from suicidal thoughts. 

Prince Harry continued, “I’m also really angry with myself that we’re stuck in this situation. I was ashamed that it had got this bad. I was ashamed to go to my family because—to be honest with you, like a lot of other people my age could probably relate to—I know that I’m not going to get from my family what I need.”

Prince Harry mentioned in his bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview that he feared “history repeating itself” with Meghan Markle, referring to what happened to his mother, Princess Diana. In The Me You Can’t See, Prince Harry recalls how he had a hard time coping with his mom’s sudden passing. 

Prince Harry says his mindset at the time was: “I don’t want to think about her, because if I think about her, then it’s going to bring up the fact that I can’t bring her back and it’s just going to make me sad. What’s the point in thinking about something sad? What’s the point of thinking about someone that you’ve lost and you’re never going to get back again? And I just decided not to talk about it. No one was talking about it.” 

He was told by his family to grin and bear it when it came to his mental health. “Family members have said, ‘Just play the game and your life will be easier.’ But I have a hell of a lot of my mum in me,” he says in the doc. “I feel as though I am outside of the system, but I’m still stuck there. The only way to free yourself and break out is to tell the truth.” 

Eventually, the Duke of Sussex sought therapy.