The Duke of Sussex has the energy of a man who has realised he doesn’t have to play the game – he has finally been set free
Is anyone really that shocked by
what Prince Harry has said in this documentary?
Is there a person alive who won’t wince at his recollection of that day just after his mother died when, as a 12-year-old boy, he was sent out to console the bawling masses, forbidden from expressing a shred of emotion as he did so?
I think this every time the
Duke speaks openly about his struggles: honestly, how can you expect him not to be deeply affected by this stuff? Who gets to say how you should respond to having to walk behind your mother’s coffin in front of the globe? And why do we only defend a person’s right to free speech when they are talking with a stiff upper lip?
It seems to me that Prince Harry is only confirming what we have all long suspected: life as a royal is not for everyone. Certainly, it wasn’t for him.
But in refusing to perpetuate the narrative that being a royal is anything other than a fairy tale, it is as if Prince Harry must now be cast as a traitor. For some, this glimpse behind the curtain is too much to bear.
Royal experts claim he is deeply unhappy. Others speak of his anger and rage. But I have not seen a version of Harry that is more at peace with himself. He has escaped. He has the energy of a man who has realised he doesn’t have to play the game any more. Of a man finally set free.
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There are many people who prefer the playful Harry, the party prince who was always falling out of a club and living the high life. They will point to the younger Harry and remark how much happier he seemed. But that was all a facade, one put on to hide a deeper pain. And while
this Harry may not be convenient to everyone, it is certainly better for him and his growing family. People may not like it, but it would be good to remember that they are not the ones who have to live it.
Here is a man who is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t... so he might as well do. To see a member of the traditionally royal family having EMDR on screen may not be to everyone’s tastes but, to many, it will be an important moment in normalising much-misunderstood treatments that can be life-saving. And while the reports may give the impression that this is a five-part series all about the Prince’s trauma, the reality is that he is just one of many voices that have contributed. An athlete talks about the horror of having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Lady Gaga speaks candidly about self-harm. Suicide, addiction and schizophrenia are all tackled.
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While people will come to this series to hear about Prince Harry, they will leave having heard about some of the most stigmatised illnesses in existence. That may not be the kind of duty that royal watchers like, but it is an important one all the same.
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