Prince Harry has always marched to the beat of his own drum and is no stranger to breaking away from the royal traditions followed by his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.
In fact, royal expert Chris Ship revealed that the Duke of Sussex speaks out on issues such as mental health because of his first-hand experience in being royal.
Ship told Yahoo that the royal spoke with him about the difference between his role in the royal family and the Queen’s after the 34-year-old admitted to being “very close to total breakdown on numerous occasion.”
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“I remember talking to Harry about this. I said, ‘Look, royals aren’t meant to open up, we’re not meant to know what you think.’
“And his response was, ‘Look, this is my way of doing duty and service. My grandmother had a certain way of doing it but my way is to say ‘okay, I sought some help professionally for mental illness’ and if that encourages other people to talk about it or go and seek some help then that’s me imparting my duty and service.’
“I thought that was a very interesting answer, that’s how they see their role changed in a very distinct way from their grandmother’s role of duty and service and that’s why they have opened up.”
Both Prince Harry and his brother Prince William have moved away from the tendency of royals to keep the details of their personal life private.
Over the past few years, they have spoken up about the challenges of being in the public eye after the death of their mother Princess Diana.
“That’s why William spoke – that’s why they spoke about their mum a couple of years ago on the anniversary of her death,” Ship told Yahoo.
The Dukes have supported several charities promoting awareness of mental health issues and collaborated on the nationwide campaign Heads Together to end the stigma around mental health.
According to Express, the brothers worked with their wives, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle to launch a new mental health text line.
The initiative, named Shout, was backed by the Royal Foundation in order to assist those facing mental health issues.
The publication also reported that in 2017, Prince Harry admitted to seeking psychological help to address the impact that his mother’s death had on him (at the insistence of his brother Prince William and the rest of the royal family).
“I can safely say that losing my mom at the age of 12 and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but also my work as well.
“And it was only three years ago, funny enough, from the support around, and my brother and other people saying ‘You really need to deal with this. It’s not normal to think that nothing has affected you’.”
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