Almost 20 years on from the
death Diana, Princess of Wales, Prince Harry, has spoken out about his
struggles to come to terms with his mother’s death. In an interview with the
Daily Telegraph he revealed he refused to think about his mother “because why
would that help?”
Prince Harry was just 12
years old when Princess Diana was killed in a car accident in the Pont de l'Alma
tunnel in Paris. He failed to deal with his grief for so long that when it
caught up to him in his late twenties he wasn’t even aware it was grief he was
feeling “I just couldn’t put my finger on it,” he said. “I just didn’t
know what was wrong with me.”
At the
age of 10, my father died of a stroke and as a child and also because of how
sudden it was, several months passed before I was even hit with the finality of
it. Eight years on I still haven’t worked through the loss in a conventional
way like seeing a bereavement counsellor.
Prince Harry opening up about his own
struggles dealing with grief I’m sure will help others have the confidence to
get help no matter how many years ago it occurred. Potentially if I hadn’t previously
had a bad experience with a doctor who didn’t listen when I needed a grievance
counsellor, it might’ve spurred me on too.
Heads Together, a joint campaign from The
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry aims to end mental health
stigma. This isn’t the only campaign or charity around with the same end goal, which
is clearly becoming more of a priority. Maybe one-day mental health will be
just as acceptable to talk about as physical health, but for now it for the
most part remains taboo and a secret.
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