On the anniversary eve of Princess Diana’s passing, Prince Harry said returning home from his second tour of Afghanistan triggered the “trauma” of losing his mother.
WATCH: Prince Harry and Prince William play with Princess Diana. Article continues after the video.
The world stood still when the news spread of Princess Diana’s death on August 31, 1997 where the youngest Prince was only 12 years old.
August 2023 marks the 26th anniversary of her passing. While speaking in his latest Netflix documentary, Heart of Invictus, Prince Harry claimed he had no “support.”
“From my personal experience, my tour of Afghanistan in 2012, flying Apaches, somewhere after that there was an unravelling,” the Prince said.
“And the trigger to me was returning to Afghanistan, but the stuff that was coming up was from 1997 from the age of 12.
“Losing my mum at such a young age, the trauma that I had I was never really aware of. It was never discussed, I never really talked about it and I suppressed it like most youngsters would have done.”
The five-part docuseries follows injured veterans and the Duke of Sussex, who confessed the “biggest struggle” returning home was that “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,” he said, speaking from the Sussexes family home in Montecito.
“Unfortunately, like most of us, the first time you consider therapy is when you are lying on the floor in the foetal position probably wishing you had dealt with some of this stuff previously. And that’s what I really want to change.”
This isn’t the first time Prince Harry’s “trauma” over losing his mother has been discussed.
WATCH: Prince Harry says Botswana helped him deal with Diana’s death. Article continues after the video.
In November 2022, author Christopher Anderson claimed King Charles held one regret regarding Princess Diana’s funeral – making his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry walk behind their mother’s coffin.
“I think it haunts him because it haunts them, and they’ve spoken about it,” he told Us Weekly. “I’ve written that I believe it’s a form of PTSD.”
