Harry tells of years of ‘total chaos’ and near ‘complete breakdown’ after Diana’s death

Prince Harry was close to a complete breakdown and had shut down his emotions for two decades after his mother’s death.

Prince Harry

Prince Harry was very close to a complete breakdown and had shut down his emotions for nearly two decades after the death of his mother, Diana.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph newspaper in Britain, Harry spoke about the two years of “total chaos’’ in his late 20s, how he sought professional help at 28 when he felt on the verge of punching someone, and how he was ­anxious during royal ­engage­ments.

Harry’s unprecedented disclosures, when his personal life is at a high with his relationship with Meghan Markle, comes at a time he wants to highlight a mental health charity, Heads Together, and approaching the 20th anniversary on August 31 of Princess Diana’s death.

The prince said shutting down his emotions after the death of his mother when he was 12 had “quite a serious effect, not only my personal life but my work as well”.

“I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and … misconceptions and everything are coming to you from every angle,” he said.

Harry said he had been to a “shrink more than a couple of times’’ and explained his way of coping.

“My way of dealing with it was sticking my head in the sand, refusing to ever think about my mum, because why would that help? (I thought) it’s only going to make you sad, it’s not going to bring her back. From an emotional side, I was like ‘Right, don’t ever let your emotions be part of anything’. So I was a typical 20, 25, 28-year-old running around going ‘Life is great’, or ‘Life is fine’ and that was exactly it.

“And then I started to have a few conversations and all of a sudden, all of this grief I had never processed started to come to the forefront.’’

Prince William tried to persuade him to seek professional help. “It’s all about timing,’’ Harry said. “My brother, you know, bless him, he was a huge support to me.’’

He kept saying this is not right, this is not normal, you need to talk to (someone) about stuff, it’s OK.

“The timing wasn’t right. You need to feel it in yourself … to find the right person to talk to as well.’’

Harry’s revelations and using his high-profile influence to ­encourage people to seek help will be hailed as a watershed moment by mental health experts. The prince said the aim of Heads Together, also promoted by William and the Duchess of Cambridge, was to get people to talk to others.

“What we are trying to do is normalise the conversation to the point where anyone can sit down and have a coffee and just go ‘You know what, I’ve had a really shit day, can I just tell about it?’

“Because then you walk away and it’s done,” he said.

Harry also said he was now in a “good place”. “Because of the process I have been through over the past 2 ½ years, I’ve now been able to take my work seriously, been able to take my private life seriously,’’ he said.