Prince Harry has stated that he lavishes affection on his children in order to avoid passing on any “traumas” or “negative experiences” from his own upbringing.
In discussing grief, he stated that his wife Meghan had “saved me” and that he was afraid of losing his memories of his mother, Diana, in therapy.
However, the Duke of Sussex stated that he was not a “victim” looking for sympathy.
He spoke in an online interview with Dr. Gabor Maté, a trauma and addiction author.
The fireside chat in California was a follow-up to the shocking memoir Spare. Prince Harry stated that he felt “incredibly free” following the publication of the book.
“I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders,” he told Dr Maté, describing the book as a “act of service” to help others break the taboo of discussing mental health issues.
It was a discussion about his emotional feelings, therapy, and mental health thoughts – but not about recent royal revelations, such as whether or not he would attend his father’s coronation.
There was no mention of how the Royal Family, including his brother, felt about the autobiography.
Prince Harry described growing up in his family as “feeling different” and living in a disconnected “bubble,” which therapy helped him burst.
He was asked in front of an international online audience if he had had an emotionally distant childhood, with a lack of hugs and displays of affection.
He stated that he “makes certain that I smother them with love and affection” with his own children.
“I feel a huge responsibility as a father to ensure that I don’t pass on any traumas or… negative experiences that I had as a child,” he said.
He repeatedly emphasized the importance of therapy, despite the fact that it could cause a schism between him and other relationships.
But he claimed that he feared it would erode his feelings for his mother, Diana, who died when he was 12 years old.
“One of the things I was most afraid of was losing the feeling I had of my mother… whatever I had managed to hold onto of my mother,” Prince Harry explained.
But he hadn’t forgotten his feelings and had realized “that she really just wanted me to be happy,” he told Dr Maté.
The prince described his wife Meghan as a “exceptional human being,” and said he is “eternally grateful” for changing his perspective.