Prince Harry has shared details about a period of depression he experienced for two weeks following his and Meghan Markle's decision to step back as working royals in January 2020. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex subsequently relocated to North America with their son, Archie.
In a new MasterClass lesson focused on grief, released on Thursday, Harry described an "adrenaline crash" he suffered shortly after arriving in Canada. "Away from the stressful environment where presumably my body was just pumped full of adrenaline, within two or three days, I experienced this adrenaline crash — something that I’d never experienced before," Harry stated in the online lesson titled “Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss."
He explained, "It was as if I needed stress in order to get the adrenaline to make my brain function because I became useless around the house." Harry added, "I actually slipped into depression for about two weeks and I felt like I couldn’t function without adrenaline."
During the MasterClass session, alongside neuroscientist Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor, Harry also spoke about how grief and the loss of his mother, Princess Diana, have impacted his life. He reiterated a past confession from his memoir, "Spare," about his belief that his mother was still alive and would return for him. "I believed that she had created this exit to get away from all the things that were destroying her life and that she was gonna reenter the fray in some disguise and then whisk me and my brother away," he said.
Prince Harry also shared that he struggled with happiness due to feeling "disloyal and guilty for the possibility of being happy and joyful without her." He added, "I felt like I had to be sad and I had to be emotionally numb in order to prove to her that I missed her."
Princess Diana died in a car crash on August 31, 1997, at the age of 36. Prince William was 15, and Prince Harry was 12 at the time of her death. As the 30th anniversary of her death approaches, sources close to Prince Harry have indicated he may be working on a documentary about his mother, with a source telling HuffPost that he has discussed various projects to honor her legacy.