'Traumatised' Prince Harry had to step back from the Royal Family, says expert

28 November 2023 , 22:46

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The Prince had no choice but to step back (Image: Getty Images)

A “traumatised” Prince Harry had no choice but to disconnect from his family if he wanted to live a true “authentic life,” trauma expert Dr Gabor Mate says.

Harry famously announced he and his wife Meghan Markle were stepping down from their duties as senior royals back in 2020. The couple made the move across the pond and settled down in California, where they now live in their mega-mansion along with their two children, four-year-old Archie and baby Lilibet, one.

The 39-year-old Prince discussed the traumas of his childhood in his bombshell memoir, Spare, which was released earlier this year. He also went on to divulge intimate details of his icy relationship with his family in the tell-all book.

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Royal relations have been frosty since Harry and Meghan moved across the pond (Getty Images)

Dr Gabor Mate spoke with the Duke of Sussex following the release of Spare in a 90-minute live-streamed conversation earlier this year. The controversial trauma expert explained Harry was caught in a battle between "attachment and authenticity" when deciding to step down as a senior royal, a move which led to cracks in his relationship with King Charles and Prince William.

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Dr Mate spoke with Piers Morgan on Uncensored about Harry’s situation and shared: "Families are tough, families hurt one another. Children are traumatised in families. Harry was traumatised in his family, not because his family didn’t love him, but because they were carrying their own trauma and passing it onto the next generation,” he explained.

"I passed on my trauma to my children, I didn’t mean to but I did. Sometimes people can work these things out if there is willingness on both sides and people do make mistakes, I do believe Harry made some mistakes, that goes both ways. People can work it out and sometimes they can’t and sometimes people find freedom in having to disconnect.”

Harry is somewhat estranged from his father (Samir Hussein/WireImage)

Dr Gabor Mate added he thought Prince Harry was “humble and sincere and genuinely interested in promoting mental health". He also explained there is often a tension between the drive to belong and the urge to be authentic, adding: "A lot of people are in that situation. And Harry in that family, with a very troubled young mother, and a loveless marriage and a father who was having an affair before he was born.

The family tensions are always simmering (AP)

"A family was where there was not a lot of touching and holding - there is multiple reasons to say he was very traumatised child and in order to become himself, he had to distance himself. Now, did he do it right, exactly the ideal way? Maybe not. But you know what, when I look at myself at age 38 or 35, boy, did I make a lot of mistakes. This is all part of the human drama and families sometimes work it out and sometimes they don’t.”

Since stepping back from their Royal duties, Harry and Meghan have made numerous allegations about their time within the institution, with Harry accusing his brother of being “trapped” in the system. The icy relations are set to get even more frosty after the release of Omid Scobie’s much-anticipated royal book Endgame.

Connie Bowker