Prince Harry may be a proud dad today, but his journey into parenthood was admittedly very “messy”!
As part of his Australia tour, the Duke of Sussex sat down for a chat with Movember — a global organization focused on men’s health, mental health, and suicide prevention — for an event focused on fatherhood in Melbourne. A topic he knows well — both the good and the bad parts of it!
Related: Royal Family Furious About Harry & Meghan’s Australia Trip
Kicking off his convo with Movember’s global director of men’s health research, Dr. Zac Seidler, on Wednesday, the 41-year-old praised the importance of therapy:
“Certainly from a therapy standpoint, you want to be the best version of yourself for your kids. And I knew that I had stuff from the past that I needed to deal with and therefore, prepare myself to basically cleanse myself of the past.”
For years now, the Spare author’s been open about how important it was for him to tackle his mental health, especially to process the trauma of his mother Princess Diana‘s shocking death. But it also served a very important purpose when Meghan Markle welcomed their first kiddo, Prince Archie, back in 2019.
Before the little royal’s arrival, Harry’s therapist encouraged him to “just be aware of how you feel once the baby is born.” And so he was paying close attention when he felt a “disconnection” in the early days of Archie’s life, he vulnerably expressed:
“My wife was the one creating life, and I was there to witness it.”
Oof. That’s gotta be such a tough feeling to navigate during what should be such a beautiful time. That said, H’s certainly not the only guy to experience it!
He reminded all the fathers listening that they’re “not alone” as they figure out the realities of becoming a parent:
“To the dads and soon-to-be dads: yes, it’s messy. You’ll have a rollercoaster of emotions — and don’t judge yourself.”
The Invictus Games founder went on to praise the org’s “revolutionary” work, which has helped so many men tackle similar feelings. As more evidence through research and statistics comes to light, he hopes it will “give anyone the confidence to know however you have been feeling, however you are feeling, is replicated in the vast majority of individuals.” He elaborated:
“There’s an evolution happening here, and I think the more guys that come forward and talk about it, the higher those numbers will be because those numbers are remarkable and very telling in a culture where it’s not really talked about.”
And not only do these raw conversations (some of which “never existed” for Harry and his elders) help his peers, but they’ll help the future generations get a much-needed “upgrade.”
But not trying to sound like he was dissing anyone, he quickly clarified he’s not “an upgrade of [his] dad or that [his] kids are an upgrade of [him].” He explained:
“With the world the way that it goes, the kids that we bring up in today’s world need to be an upgrade.”
Every great parent just wants to make the world a better place for their kids! We totally get it! And despite his rocky start to becoming a dad, he’s now a super hands-on parent! He’s come a long way.
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Are y’all surprised Harry struggled to connect with fatherhood at first?? Share your thoughts in the comments (below)!
[Image via MEGA/WENN & Meghan Markle/Instagram & CBS/YouTube]
