PRINCE Harry told Oprah that he’s “learned” that families feel “shame” when they hear of mental health problems in the final episode of the pair’s new documentary series.
It comes just a week after the Duke of Sussex opened up to the chat show host about his mental wellbeing following the death of Princess Diana in the Apple TV doc The Me You Can’t See.
Read our Meghan and Harry live blog for the latest updates
Called The Me You Can’t See: A Path Forward, the final episode was set up as a virtual Town Hall.
Some of the guests who were interviewed in the series were also featured in the final episode, including actress Glenn Close, who spoke about helping her sister who is living with bipolar disorder, and how mental illness affects the whole family.
Harry, who spoke during the series about his own family’s aversion to speaking about mental health, and the actress discussed how people can feel ashamed for not seeing that their loved ones were struggling.
The Duke spoke about stigma associated not only with people suffering from mental illness, but those close to them who may feel unequipped to handle the situation.
“As parents, as siblings, certainly from what I’ve learned – there’s an element of shame we feel, because we’re like, How could we not have seen it?” Harry said.
“How did we not know? How did you not feel comfortable enough to come to me and share that with me?
“But we all know, when people are suffering and people are struggling, that we’re all incredibly good at covering it up for those that know that we’re covering it up,” he went on.
The Duke also thanked the actress for coming on to the series to share her family’s history with mental health issues and “the realities of a family struggling, but also thriving.”
The doc series first premiered last Friday, with contributions from singer Lady Gaga, Syrian refugee Fawzi, and DeMar DeRozan of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.
Following the first episode, Oprah said that everyone is on a “spectrum” of mental health.
The pair discussed their mental health battles with anchor Robin Roberts on Good Morning America last week after the series premiered.
The talk show host said: “One of the things that Prince Harry and I wanted was for people to understand that mental health and mental fitness is a spectrum and we’re all on a spectrum.
“Everybody either is or knows somebody who’s going through something.”
Harry went on to speak about how the world-broadcasted death of his mother impacted his own mental health.
He said: “There were so many people of all ages that need to heal and that also are for one reason or another unable to heal or may be unaware that they need to heal.
“If we hold onto grief it manifests itself and appears later in life – that is what I’ve learned from this process.”
Harry spoke out about his wife Meghan’s mental health struggles, saying: “Meghan decided to share with me the suicidal thoughts and the practicalities of how she was going to end her life.
“The scariest thing for her was her clarity of thought.”
The Duke also revealed that Meghan woke up in the middle of the night “crying into her pillow” as “heartbreaking” bullying claims emerged days before their Oprah interview.
In March, an insider told The Times that Meghan drove two personal assistants out of the household and undermined the confidence of a third – which prompted Buckingham Palace to launch a full-scale investigation.
Describing the impact the allegations had on his wife, Harry said: “I was woken up in the middle of the night to her crying in her pillow because she doesn’t want to wake me up, because I’m already carrying too much.”
The Duke also accused his family of showing “total neglect” for his mental health woes, claiming his father Charles let him “suffer.”
He opened up about his struggles with his mental well-being and the trauma that haunts him after the death of his mother Princess Diana.
And in stunningly candid moments, Harry launched blistering attacks on his close relatives – and admitted to past drug use and booze binges to escape from his anguish.
He revealed that he’s been in therapy for “four or five years” as he opened up about turning his back on Britain and his family to “break the cycle” of grief being passed down the generations.
Harry spoke in the documentary about suffering through a “nightmare time” in his life from when he was 28 until 32.
He said: “I’m freaking out every single time I jump in the car or see a camera. I would just start sweating.”
Meghan and Harry’s Town Hall appearance came just months after the pair sat down in a bombshell interview with Oprah that rocked the Palace.
