Prince Harry Is Honest About Royal Family Upbringing In Netflix Doc
The Duke of Sussex was candid in the clips from Heart of Invictus, where he chats about a range of subjects—including life in the royal family. On the topic of the tragic untimely death of his mother, Princess Diana, in August 1997, Harry told the cameras, "Losing my mum at such a young age, the trauma that I had I was never really aware of...It was never discussed. I never really talked about it and I suppressed it like most youngsters would have done."
The Prince went on to say that "no one" offered him "support" during his grieving period, though he was only 12 when his mother died. "But when it all came fizzing out I was bouncing off the walls. Like, 'What is going on here?' I’m now feeling everything as opposed to being numb." He added, "The biggest struggle for me was no one around me really could help."
The comments seem to be a direct jab at the royal family, as they would've been the ones surrounding him at the time of Diana's passing and his growing up dealing with the emotional aftermath. The royal family isn't mentioned by name, but it seems clear who is being referenced. "I didn’t have that support structure, that network, or that expert advice to identify what was actually going on with me. Unfortunately, like most of us, the first time you really consider therapy is when you’re lying on the floor in the fetal position probably wishing you had dealt with some of this stuff previously."
Heart of Invictus Discusses Plight Of Injured Soldiers; Shows Inspirational Stories
The docuseries is not about Harry's royal experience, however—much more so, it's about his experience in the armed forces, and the experiences of those still dealing with physical and emotional wounds from their time in combat. The doc "[follows] a group of competitors as they train for the 2022 Invictus Games, a global sporting event founded by Prince Harry for wounded service members."
Of the Prince's involvement with Heart of Invictus and the Invictus Games, producer Joanna Natasegara told Variety, "Prince Harry’s commitment to the Invictus community was very clear, and very obvious. He is in and of that community—and so you see that within the show. I don’t mind how people are attracted to the show, but I really hope they take away what we took away, which was a universal message of hope and resilience." She added, "We treated the Duke as we would any other contributor — the same process, the same duty of care, the same respect. And the same questions. It was really important to see him in the same way as the others, and I think he comes across in the same way, as an equal, to the others in the show. You have to be respectful and work slowly to gain people’s trust, and when they feel there’s a shared agenda, that trust is more easily won."
The producer also highlighted how deeply Harry cared about the subjects portrayed in the limited series. "Unsurprisingly, he’s very engaged with this project," she stated. "He cares deeply about the community, cares deeply about how those people are presented. He cares deeply about mental health, and about sport as a tool for recovery. So he was a great partner. We really enjoyed making this series, top to bottom." All 5 episodes of Heart of Invictus are available to stream on Netflix now.