{"id":384084,"date":"2026-04-17T11:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T11:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/384084\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T11:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T11:03:12","slug":"prince-harry-says-princess-dianas-death-made-him-not-want-to-be-a-royal-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/384084\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince Harry says Princess Diana\u2019s death made him not want to be a royal – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

During a keynote speech at a mental health conference in Australia, Prince Harry<\/a> said there were points in his life when he did not want to be royal or to fulfil the duties his title entails, particularly after the death of his mother, Princess Diana,<\/a>\u00a0when he was 12 years old.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI was like, \u2018I don\u2019t want this job. I don\u2019t want this role \u2014 wherever this is headed, I don\u2019t like it,\u2019 he told the audience at the InterEdge Summit<\/a> \u2014 a leadership summit on workplace mental health \u2014 in Melbourne on Thursday, where his wife, Meghan Markle<\/a>, was also present.<\/p>\n

During his 20-minute address, Harry spoke about his experience with mental health and how grief has impacted his life.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen I was invited to speak at this summit, I wasn\u2019t sure whether I was expected to speak as someone who, despite everything, has their s\u2013t together. Or as someone who, despite what it may look like, actually doesn\u2019t have his s\u2013t together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut I was struck by something quite simple \u2014 that while my experiences may be unusual, the feelings that come with them are not,\u201d Harry continued, before speaking about the death of his mother and how losing her made him feel alienated from his royal identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my experience, loss is disorienting at any age,\u201d he said. \u201cGrief does not disappear because we ignore it. Experiencing that as a kid while in a goldfish bowl under constant surveillance, yes, that will have its challenges. And without purpose, it can break you,\u201d he went on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been many times when I\u2019ve felt overwhelmed. Times when I\u2019ve felt lost, betrayed, or completely powerless. Times when the pressure \u2014 externally and internally \u2014 felt constant. And times when, despite everything going on, I still had to show up pretending everything was OK, so as not to let anyone down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor many years I was numb to it, and perhaps that was easier then, but I also didn\u2019t yet have the tools to deal with it,\u201d he added, suggesting that the lifestyle \u201ckilled his mom,\u201d which in turn turned him against the idea of abiding by it.<\/p>\n

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Eventually, he realized he could use his platform to advocate for people who struggle, Harry said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd also, what would my mom want me to do? And that really changed my own perspective,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFILE: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, leave a Thanksgiving service for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II at St Paul\u2019s Cathedral in London on June 3, 2022.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAP Photo\/Matt Dunham, Pool, File\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

He credited two military tours in Afghanistan with helping him build resilience and the capacity to face his psychological struggles, as well as becoming a husband and a father to Archie, six, and Lilibet, four.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a parent is overwhelmed, children feel it. When someone is supported, families feel it,\u201d the prince said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, one of the biggest shifts came when I realized that asking for help isn\u2019t a weakness. It\u2019s very much a form of strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

His speech came less than a week after a charity Harry co-founded to help young people with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana, created in honour of Princess Diana, sued him for libel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The prince, who quit the charity in 2025 following a high-profile dispute<\/a> after a public falling out with its chair of the board, Sophie Chandauka, co-founded the organization with his friend, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, in 2006.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During a keynote speech at a mental health conference in Australia, Prince Harry said there were points in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[156,4866,111,139,69,3578,478,377],"class_list":{"0":"post-384084","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-meghan-markle","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-prince-harry","14":"tag-trending","15":"tag-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}