Prince Harry says he used drugs and alcohol to 'mask' his grief over Diana's death


Prince Harry is opening up for another revealing Oprah Winfrey interview.
Harry spoke with Winfrey during their new mental health documentary The Me You Can't See, in its first episode reflecting on the death of his mother, Princess Diana.
"I was so angry with what happened to her and the fact that there was no justice at all," Harry says. "Nothing came from that. The same people that chased her into the tunnel photographed her dying on the backseat of that car."
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The Duke of Sussex says he "never processed" his grief for years and was "all over the place mentally," experiencing panic attacks and anxiety during a "nightmare time in my life" from age 28 to 32. He recalls turning to alcohol and drugs to "feel less like I was feeling," drinking "a week's worth in one day" because he was "trying to mask something." It was about four years ago when he began going to therapy to "heal myself from the past," he said.
Harry also speaks further about his and his wife Meghan Markle's decision to step back from the royal family, saying that when he felt "completely helpless" while Meghan was facing racist attacks and harassment, the family didn't help.
"Every single ask, request, warning, whatever it is, just got met with total silence or total neglect," Harry says.
Harry adds that his father, Prince Charles, told him when he was younger that "it was like that for me, so it's going to be like that for you," an idea Harry said "doesn't make sense."
Harry also recalls Meghan once sharing with him "the practicalities of how she was going to end her life," saying she didn't do so because it would be "unfair" to put him in the position of "losing another woman in my life, with a baby inside of her." The full documentary is now available on Apple TV+.
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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