A senior psychiatrist has praised Prince Harry for admitting his personal struggle with mental health problems following the death of his mother, Princess Diana.
The Prince yesterday gave an interview in which he said he had finally sought counselling after failing to acknowledge his grief for 20 years.
Prince Harry spoke out as he prepared to launch a new charity, Heads Together, to promote mental well-being.
The charity, also backed by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, is to be the main charity of the London Marathon.
Reacting to the Prince’s comments, the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Professor Sir Simon Wessely, said Prince Harry had communicated mental health issues better in 25 minutes than he had in his 25-year career.
He said: “He has a reach across the world that people like me can only dream – he will have communicated in a way that I have been working all my life to achieve."
The Prince told the Daily Telegraph: “I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well.”
He added: “I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and sort of lies and misconceptions and everything are coming to you from every angle.”
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