Prince Harry is sharing and opening up about his drug use as a teenager to cope with the death of his mother. The Duke of Sussex also accused the royal family of "total neglect" over his grief so he turned to drugs and alcohol.
In a new interview clip featuring Harry with Oprah Winfrey, the royal said that he used to drink a week's worth of alcohol on weekends to mask his grief. He was also willing to take drugs to downplay what he was feeling.
It's a narrative that Harry has opened up to in his interviews over and over, especially in the recent weeks, as his mental health series with Winfrey, The Me You Can't See, will soon launch on Apple TV+. The Duke of Sussex also said that the royal family met his requests for help with total silence. He claimed that no one warned or told him to stop what he was doing.
However, in 2002, or 19 years ago, The Guardian reported that Prince Charles took Harry to a rehab clinic after his father found out that he was experimenting with drugs and alcohol. He was 17 years old at that time.
The news relayed that Charles wanted Prince Harry to be aware of what happens when a person gets hooked on drugs. The Prince of Wales also talked to his eldest son, Prince William, to convince Harry to go with his father to the Featherstone clinic. At that time, royal aides didn't want to comment any further on Harry and Charles' visit to Featherstone because it was a "serious matter" that had to be resolved within the family.
Meanwhile, Harry's latest revelations have caused concerns over his mental health. According to his former biographer, Angela Levin, Harry has been seeking professional treatment for years but it looks like he's stuck in his struggles relating to the death of his mother.
Levin said that it was uncomfortable watching Harry unload his feelings in the new documentary series because he appears to be unwell despite his years of therapy. The royal expert said that therapy should help people move on with a more positive outlook but this doesn't seem to be the case with Harry.
The Me You Can't See is a five-part series that Winfrey had been working with Prince Harry since 2019. The show was supposed to be out a year earlier but the pandemic lockdowns pushed back its release on the Apple TV+ streaming platform because of production delays.
