Prince Harry Describes Depression After Moving to Canada

Prince Harry has described experiencing depression after leaving the United Kingdom for Canada in 2019, revealing how the sudden absence of prolonged stress affected his ability to function. In an online class about grief, the Duke of Sussex also discussed the emotional numbness he experienced following the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, and his struggle to accept happiness without her.

Harry shared these experiences in a paid 90-minute MasterClass titled "Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss," released on Thursday. The program features neuroscientist Mary-Frances O'Connor, a University of Arizona professor whose research examines how the brain responds to bereavement.

Harry said the move to Canada followed years of pressure and was intended to give him space. He subsequently relocated to California with his wife, Meghan, after stepping back from royal duties.

Describing the immediate aftermath of his move, Harry said, "Being in Canada, away from the stressful environment where presumably my body was just pumped full of adrenaline, within two or three days, I experienced this adrenaline crash, something that I'd never experienced before," according to the BBC's October 8 report.

He explained that the change left him struggling with ordinary activities and feeling dependent on stress to maintain his functioning.

"It was as if I needed stress in order to get the adrenaline to make my brain function because I became useless around the house," Harry said.

He also described the duration of the episode and its effect on his daily life.

"I actually slipped into depression for about two weeks and I felt like I couldn't function without adrenaline," Harry said.

Harry's discussion extended to the death of Diana, who died when he was 12. He said he struggled for years to process the loss and connected his emotional withdrawal to feelings of guilt about experiencing happiness after her death.

In his account, his military service in Afghanistan was partly an attempt to escape difficult emotions rather than confront them.

"In my 20s, I went to war twice thinking I could outrun my feelings," Harry said.

He described remaining emotionally detached because he believed sadness demonstrated his continuing attachment to his mother.

"I'd spent so long emotionally numb, to a large extent, because I felt disloyal and guilty for the possibility of being happy and joyful without her," Harry said.

Harry added that he had associated unhappiness with proving the depth of his grief.

"I felt like I had to be sad and I had to be emotionally numb in order to prove to her that I missed her," he said.

According to the BBC, Harry also discussed how therapy helped him reconnect with memories of Diana. A therapist suggested using her perfume to evoke memories, an experience Harry said helped him recognize that his mother would have wanted him to be happy.

O'Connor offered a scientific perspective on why bereavement can be difficult to process. She explained that the brain may continue to anticipate the return of someone who has died, even when the person understands the loss intellectually.

"Your brain doesn't register your loved one as gone - it registers them as lost," O'Connor said.

She explained that the brain's search for the missing person can persist until it adjusts to the reality of the loss.

"And it will keep searching until you teach it otherwise. We still expect that they're going to walk through the door," O'Connor said.

A separate review published by Yahoo on October 9 criticized the commercial presentation of Harry's personal experiences in the class. The reviewer questioned whether his experience with therapy qualified him to offer broad guidance to grieving people, while distinguishing his personal account from O'Connor's professional expertise.

The review also raised concerns about a section discussing psychedelic-assisted therapy, including MDMA and psilocybin. Harry described the approach as moving beyond a fringe idea, while O'Connor cautioned that the field carries significant risks and that some experiences can have adverse effects.

The reviewer argued that the discussion risked presenting personal enthusiasm as general guidance, particularly for people coping with severe grief. The review did not dispute that Harry had experienced loss but questioned the way his experiences were packaged for a paying audience.

The BBC reported that MasterClass approached Harry about participating in the program the previous year and filmed it in California over the summer. Harry and Meghan have two children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, and the family had spent six years in the United States before their recent return to the United Kingdom, according to the report.

Harry has previously spoken publicly about mental health and bereavement, while his brother, the Prince of Wales, has also discussed mental health challenges. Both have been involved in mental health charities.