Prince Harry may be confident enough to blast his family on national TV, but he still wasn’t ready to face them in the aftermath.
While we were all wondering if his presence at Prince Philip’s funeral would heal broken bonds, Meghan Markle’s husband (who made the trek alone due to her pregnancy) was scared out of his mind just to return to the country.
Related: Prince Harry & William Join Forces To Blast ‘Unethical’ BBC Interview With Princess Diana
In an interview with Associated Press to promote his brand new docuseries, The Me You Can’t See with Oprah on AppleTV+, the royal admitted:
“I was worried about it, I was afraid.”
He actually had to rely on coping mechanisms he learned in therapy to get through the trip!
“It definitely made it a lot easier, but the heart still pounds.”
Whoa — he really must have been terrified! Of course, the emotions didn’t all stem from his family rift though.
The 36-year-old was mainly worried about being thrown back into the British media frenzy, where he described paparazzi cameras would hound him. The UK press was also one of the main reasons Harry and Meghan packed their bags and moved to the US in the first place, so it’s totally natural that he was nervous to return!
As we previously reported, Prince Charles was said to be “fuming” at his youngest son for “throwing shade” at the royal family and institution in his and Meg’s Oprah sit-down.
A source told Us Weekly last month:
“Charles is still fuming about Harry throwing shade at him and the royal family in the big interview and won’t let it drop. But to be honest, Harry didn’t go running back to Charles begging for forgiveness either. He still hasn’t forgiven his father for his lack of effort and support after he and Meghan decided to move. The reason Harry went back to the U.K. was to see the queen and to pay his respects to Prince Philip. That’s about as far as it goes.”
No wonder the two couldn’t “resolve their differences” when Harry reunited with his family for the first time in over a year.
Thankfully, all the work Harry has done on his mental health since leaving The Firm allowed him to get through the tragic ceremony in one piece. In his episode of The Me You Can’t See, the Cali resident opened up even further about his mental health journey, sharing:
“I thought my family would help, but every single ask, request, warning, whatever, it is just got met with total silence, total neglect. We spent four years trying to make it work. We did everything that we possibly could to stay there and carry on doing the role and doing the job. But Meghan was struggling.”
Related: 5 Things To Know About The Royals Replacing Prince Harry & Meghan Markle!
While the Suits alum has been the most vocal about her struggle since the dramatic tell-all interview with Winfrey, Archie’s father admitted he faced challenges of his own when he lost his mother Princess Diana suddenly. Detailing how his dad’s lack of support only hurt their family, he shared:
“My father [Prince Charles] used to say to me, when I was younger, he used to say to both [Prince] William and I, ‘Well, it was like that for me. So it’s going to be like that for you.’ That doesn’t make sense — just because you suffered it doesn’t mean that your kids have to suffer. In fact, quite the opposite. If you suffered, do everything you can to make sure that whatever negative experiences that you had, that you can make it right for your kids. We chose to put our mental health first. That’s what we’re doing. And that’s what we will continue to do. Isn’t this all about breaking the cycle? Isn’t it all about making sure that history doesn’t repeat itself? That whatever pain and suffering has happened to you, that you don’t pass on.”
Clearly, Harry has come a long way with his mental health! Being able to use the tools he learned in therapy to get through an emotional and scary situation — and then talk about it publicly without fear of stigma — proves he’s overcome some of the oppression he felt as a kid in the ritzy system.
Hear more about how Harry worked through his “triggers” (below):
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