Prince Harry has accused the Royal Family of ‘total neglect’ and said ‘life was a nightmare’ in a new documentary about mental health.
The Duke of Sussex said he and Meghan were ‘followed, photographed, chased and harassed’ within days of their relationship becoming public.
However, he claimed they received little support as they were attacked on social media and in some newspapers.
‘I felt completely helpless. I thought my family would help – but every single ask, request, warning, whatever it is, just got met with total silence or total neglect,’ he said.
‘We spent four years trying to make it work. We did everything that we possibly could to stay there and carry on doing the role and doing the job.’
The duke was speaking to friend and American TV host Oprah Winfrey in The Me You Can’t See, a new programme on Apple TV+.
He is set to give an exclusive interview to Good Morning America between 12 and 2pm today to promote the documentary, which he and Winfrey produced.
It was released just hours after an independent inquiry found that journalist Martin Bashir used ‘deceitful behaviour’ to secure an interview with Princess Diana in 1995.
Prince Harry and William spoke out over the interview, saying their mother was ‘failed’.
Harry addressed the impact of Diana’s death in the new series, revealing he leaned on drink and drugs to try to dull the lingering grief that he felt.
He claimed that his family did not speak about the tragic loss and just expected him to deal with the resulting press attention and mental distress.
‘My father used to say to me when I was younger, he used to say to both William and I, “Well it was like that for me so it’s going to be like that for you”,’ Harry said.
‘That doesn’t make sense. Just because you suffered doesn’t mean that your kids have to suffer, in fact quite the opposite – if you suffered, do everything you can to make sure that whatever negative experiences you had, that you can make it right for your kids.’
The Duke, 36, says that he lived through ‘a nightmare time in my life’ between the ages of 28 and 32 when he met the American actress Meghan Markle.
He said he went into ‘fight or flight mode’ and told how he was ‘all over the place mentally’.
He said: ‘Towards my late 20s I was starting to ask questions of “Should I really be here?'”
‘And that was when I suddenly started going: “You can’t keep hiding from this”.
‘Family members have said “Just play the game and your life will be easier.” But I’ve got a hell of a lot of my mum in me.
‘I feel as though I’m outside of the system but I’m still stuck there.
‘The only way to free yourself and break out is to tell the truth.’
The Royal Family have not responded to Harry’s claims.
It will be bracing itself for even more truth bombs with Harry’s appearance on Good Morning America (GMA).
Announcing the news, Meghan’s friend and Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie tweeted: ‘As some of you have already seen, Prince Harry will be joining @GMA …to talk exclusively about #TheMeYouCantSee — the brand new @AppleTV series he executive produced with @Oprah.
In the documentary, Harry said he will not be ‘bullied into silence’ and that starting therapy four years ago has equipped him ‘with the ability to take on anything’, even media backlash.
He said he had no regrets about moving to the US, adding: ‘I’m now more comfortable in my own skin. I don’t get panic attacks. I’ve learned more about myself in the past four years than in the 32 years before it.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.