Opening up. Prince Harry sat down with Dr. Gabor Maté for a special livestream on Saturday, March 4, to promote his memoir, Spare.
The therapist asked the Duke of Sussex, 40, about accusations that he is playing the victim. “I certainly don’t see myself as a victim,” Harry said. “I’m really grateful to be able to share my story in the hope that it will help, empower, encourage others. … And hopefully, let people understand that again, back to this human experience that we all in some shape or form, [are] all connected, especially through trauma.”
Spare was released in January and made headlines with all of Harry’s bombshell revelations. From funny anecdotes about his frostbitten penis to heartbreaking passages about how he thought Princess Diana would one day appear and reveal she faked her death, he held nothing back as he dove into why his upbringing in the royal family left him with childhood trauma and how therapy helped him find happiness as an adult. He hopes that his debut book helps others find the courage to work on their own mental health.
“For me, the experiences that I’ve had throughout my childhood, throughout my life, throughout my 38 years, albeit relatively short — I’m not looking forward to becoming 40, that’s for sure — but through those experiences and through the work that I have done for two decades now around mental health and mental illness, I’ve always felt as though sharing whatever I can of my story will help someone or some people out there,” Harry explained.
The England native alleged that The Firm works with the British press to leak stories — some true and some false — to fit the narrative they want. For the BetterUp CIO, Spare allowed him to set the record straight and tell his side of his own story.
“There are people who have shared things of my life, outside my control, be it true or false. But to be able to share the things of my life that I think are important, for other people, it does, it feels good. But to me, it feels like an act of service,” he said, emphasizing that he hopes readers will be encouraged to try therapy.
The military veteran, who married Meghan Markle in 2019, would like King Charles III and Prince William to try counseling. Harry explained that working with a therapist taught him a “new language and the people that I was surrounded by, they didn’t speak that language.” So, he “did the thing of trying to encourage everyone [in his family] to do it,” per The Times.
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Scroll down for revelations from his interview with Maté:
