Why Prince Harry was 'afraid' to return to the UK for Prince Philip's funeral

prince harry 1193946998

The first three episodes of Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey's mental health series, The Me You Can't See, were released on AppleTV+ this week.

During the show, the Duke of Sussex spoke candidly about past trauma, including how he dealt with losing his mother, the late Princess Diana, at such a young age. He also touched on the memory of following her coffin at her funeral alongside Prince William, Prince Charles and Prince Philip.

He told co-host Oprah: 'For me the thing I remember the most was the sound of the horses’ hooves going along the Mall.

'It was like I was outside of my body and just walking along doing what was expected of me. (I was) showing one tenth of the emotion that everybody else was showing: This was my mum – you never even met her.'

Harry also revealed that he was 'afraid' to come back to the UK when his grandfather, Prince Philip, passed away in April this year, a month after his controversial interview with Oprah.

He told The Associated Press: 'I was worried about it, I was afraid.'

However, he added that he was able to use coping skills which he has learned after years of therapy.

'It definitely made it a lot easier, but the heart still pounds.'

Harry spoke about his decision to 'deal with [his] past' through therapy, and took part in an EMDR session - a process therapy which aims to relieve distress by briefly focusing on a traumatic memory.

The Prince has been living in California with Meghan Markle and their son, Archie, since the couple decided to step away from the royal family in early 2020.

Jadie Troy-Pryde
News Editor

Jadie Troy-Pryde is News Editor, covering celebrity and entertainment, royal, lifestyle and viral news. Before joining the team in 2018 as the Lifestyle and Social Media Editor, she worked at a number of women’s fashion and lifestyle titles including Grazia, Women’s Health and Stylist, and now heads the Marie Claire UK news desk.