{"id":921329,"date":"2026-10-09T02:32:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T02:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/921329\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T02:32:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T02:32:17","slug":"prince-harry-masterclass-session-duke-of-sussex-on-slipping-into-depression-after-leaving-uk-for-canada-princess-dianas-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/921329\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince Harry MasterClass session: Duke of Sussex on \u2018slipping into depression\u2019 after leaving UK for Canada, Princess Diana\u2019s death"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prince Harry<\/a> has revealed he \u201cslipped into depression\u201d for two weeks after leaving the UK and moving to Canada.<\/p>\n

In conversation with a neuroscientist for video learning platform MasterClass, the Duke of Sussex<\/a> reflected on the \u201cadrenaline crash\u201d he experienced when he, wife Meghan<\/a> and baby son Archie left the UK in late 2019 to \u201cget some space away\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

Prince Harry, pictured in Canada with son Archie in 2019, says he \u201cslipped into depression\u201d after leaving the UK for Vancouver Island ahead of his \u2018royal exit\u2019.\u00a0Instagram\/Sussex Royal<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing 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\u2019d never experienced before,\u201d he told Dr Mary-Frances O\u2019Connor in the online session.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“I actually slipped into depression for about two weeks and I felt like I couldn’t function without adrenaline.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Harry and Meghan pictured during an appearance at Canada House in London, hours before announcing their intention to step down as working royals.\u00a0AP\/AAP<\/p>\n

The Sussexes spent six weeks on Vancouver Island over Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2019, initially as a break from royal duties and public life. <\/p>\n

However, in early January 2020, they announced their intention to step down as working royals and move abroad. <\/p>\n

They ultimately settled in Montecito, California, before returning to the UK<\/a> this year in a surprise move.<\/p>\n

During the video session, titled \u2018Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss\u2019, Harry also spoke of the trauma of his mother Princess Diana\u2019s death in 1997 when he was 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t cry when I was told my mum died, only at her burial, and then not again for nearly two decades,\u201d he recalled. <\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

The Duke of Sussex reflected on his experiences in a MasterClass video session on \u2018redefining grief\u2019.\u00a0YouTube\/MasterClass<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

He reflected on his trauma response to Princess Diana\u2019s death, saying, \u201cI forgot what my mum sounded like. I forgot her laugh.\u201d\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cI was convinced that was strength, but it wasn\u2019t. It was a 12-year-old boy with no permission to fall apart and no roadmap for how to heal.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would think I had the best help in the world. I\u2019m a prince for God\u2019s sake, but I was still grieving and didn\u2019t have any place to put those feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry said his body\u2019s defence mechanism was shutting down his emotions and memories, including the positive ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cI forgot what my mum sounded like. I forgot her laugh. I couldn\u2019t really visualise what she looked like without looking at a photograph of her,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He spent years \u201cemotionally numb\u201d before he began processing his loss, admitting the thought of being happy without her made him feel \u201cdisloyal and guilty\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my 20s, I went to war twice thinking I could outrun my feelings,\u201d Harry continued, referring to his time serving with the army in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s not what happened. I\u2019d spent so long emotionally numb, to a large extent, because I felt disloyal and guilty for the possibility of being happy and joyful without her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I had to be sad, and I had to be emotionally numb, in order to prove to her that I missed her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry said a therapist\u2019s suggestion years later that he use his mother\u2019s perfume as a way to \u2018unlock\u2019 his memories of her proved life-changing.<\/p>\n

\u201c[S]praying my mother\u2019s scent was almost like knocking certain bricks through so that I could see through,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prince Harry has revealed he \u201cslipped into depression\u201d for two weeks after leaving the UK and moving to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134],"class_list":["post-921329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}