Susie O’Brien: Why Prince Harry’s mental health campaign is disingenuous

If Prince Harry is so concerned about people’s mental health he should quit dumping on his family and hurting theirs.

Here we go again. Prince Harry’s taking out the trash.

If Harry really cared about healing his mental health, he should stop giving tell-all interviews that dump on his family and deal with his personal issues in private.

The latest is The Me You Can’t See, a new docuseries co-created by Oprah Winfrey and Harry to explore mental health and emotional wellbeing.

In it a series of famous people share their own struggles in a bid to promote conversations about mental health.

It’s a worthy goal, but it doesn’t feel right in Harry’s case.

I don’t buy the line that by talking out he’s helping others do the same.

It’s time for Prince Harry to take his problems behind closed doors.

He says he wants to protect his wife Meghan and son Archie and unborn daughter.

But why isn’t he also thinking about the effect his words are having on the members of his own family, especially his brother William, his father Charles and his grandmother, the Queen.

It seems selfish and shortsighted for him to be working on his own mental health – which he no doubt needs to do – in a way that comes at the expense of so many others.

There is no doubt Diana’s death had an enormous impact on her sons and the other royals – how could it not? Losing their mother in such a traumatic way, on top of a very public divorce, would be expected to cause lifelong pain.

Harry is right to feel wronged and ripped off – but I hardly think his family is to blame because they, too, were grieving.

Yes, it’s possible the British stiff-upper lip approach caused further harm, but it didn’t cause the loss in the first place.

Princess Diana, Harry’s mother, died in a Paris car accident because she was in a car that was driven at high speeds by a drunk man and wasn’t wearing a seat belt.

While I do feel some sympathy for Harry given his loss, the fact that he’s using his story as a vehicle to promote a series of TV programs weakens his bid for global victimhood status.

Prince Harry is right to feel wrong over his mother’s death but it’s not his family’s fault.

Let’s remember that he’s going on Good Morning America to promote the interview. This shows his latest Oprah offering isn’t just a televised therapy session, it’s a publicity tour for his and his wife Meghan’s many TV interests.

Suicide is a serious issue in our society, and its importance is undermined when famous people use their stories merely to promote themselves.

It is ironic that Harry also attacks the media and paparazzi for pursuing his mother before she died, but he’s happy to court media attention for his own purposes.

Compare his approach to Lady Gaga, who’s given an interview in the same series. She talks about the effect being raped had on her. However, she isn’t there to blame her family for the way they dealt with it or use it to promote her next project.

I feel for Harry and am sorry for his loss, but I am getting very tired of the way he’s determined to claim the status as the world’s biggest victim while causing great hurt to his own family.

He’s luckier than most- he has a partner and a family and is financially secure. She should now count his blessings, become a private citizen and stay out of the limelight. After all, isn’t that why he left the royal family?