Prince Harry revealed in a conversation with neuroscientist Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor that he experienced two weeks of depression after moving from the UK to Canada in 2019. He discussed coping with his stepdown from senior royal duties and grieving for his mother, Princess Diana, whom he felt he needed to mourn publicly for years. Harry shared details about how he managed his mental health, including therapeutic strategies like using his mother’s perfume to reconnect emotionally. This personal account is part of a MasterClass series on grief management priced between £120 ($230) and £228 annually.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
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Story summary
Prince Harry, in a recent MasterClass session titled "Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss," hosted by neuroscientist Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor, revealed that he experienced an intense period of depression after moving from the UK to Canada with his wife Meghan Markle and their son Prince Archie in late 2019. Harry explained that within days of arriving in Canada, he went through what he termed an "adrenaline crash," leading him into a two-week depressive state where he felt unable to function normally without the stress-induced adrenaline his body had become accustomed to while living in the UK.
Harry and Meghan initially relocated to Canada after announcing their intention to step back from royal duties in January 2020. They later moved to Montecito, California, but recently returned to the UK with their children, Archie and Lilibet. The prince also discussed his prolonged emotional numbness following his mother's death, saying he felt disloyal for not being sad enough to prove he missed her.
The revelations highlight Harry’s ongoing efforts to address mental health issues within the royal family, which both he and his brother, Prince William, have been vocal about over the years.
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Prince Harry has revealed he experienced two weeks of depression after leaving the United Kingdom for Canada in 2019.
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he → reveal → 2019
The Duke of Sussex revealed for the first time how he coped with stepping down as a senior member of the royal family in a conversation with neuroscientist Dr Mary-Frances O’Connor.
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he → reveal → O’Connor
In the session, called Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss, he 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.
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I → call → that
“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.
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I → need → house
“I actually slipped into depression for about two weeks and I felt like I couldn’t function without adrenaline.”
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I → slip → adrenaline
Harry also spoke about grieving for his mother, Diana, the late Princess of Wales, saying that for many years he felt he had to be sad to prove he missed her.
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he → speak → her
He added that he followed a rule of never being away from his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, for longer than 10 days.
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he → add → days
In the personal exchange released on Thursday (London time), Harry said he left the UK and moved to Canada with Meghan and Archie in 2019 to “get some space away from everything”.
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he → release → everything
The Sussexes stayed on Vancouver Island before the Duke and Duchess quit the working monarchy early in 2020 and eventually moved to the US.
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Duke → stay → US
In an about-turn, the Sussexes returned to live in the UK last month after six years in America.
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Sussexes → return → America
People magazine reported that MasterClass approached Harry last year about developing a segment on grief, and he filmed the program in California in the northern summer, though not at his house in Montecito.
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he → report → Montecito
In a video trailer posted on Instagram, Prince Harry, who was 12 when his mother was killed in a car crash in Paris, says: “I consider myself a student of grief.”
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myself → post → grief
He added: “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.
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“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.”
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The duke explained he had forgotten his mother’s laugh, and that a therapist had suggested spraying her perfume, which helped him to “unlock everything that had been locked previously”.
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“The reality is, what I discovered was actually she just wanted me to be happy,” he said.
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The cost of a MasterClass membership ranges from £120 ($230) to £228 a year.
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During the classes, Harry will share his reflections on loss and what MasterClass describes as “the path he took to discovering his purpose”.
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he → share → purpose
In the class, Harry and O’Connor will share tactics on how to face loss of every kind, from death and divorce to illness, career change and relocation, and move through the pain towards what they describe as, hopefully, “a thriving new chapter”.
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they → share → chapter
The trailer for the duke’s grief counselling masterclass comes after his wife was seen enjoying afternoon tea with Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, at Claridge’s in Mayfair on Wednesday.
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The pair first met during a virtual discussion in 2020 to mark the International Day of the Girl, during which they spoke about the systemic barriers that prevented millions of girls from accessing education.
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The duchess’s appearance at Claridge’s was the latest since she and Harry moved back to the UK in late August.
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she → move → August
London’s Telegraph revealed last month that the duke was in talks to make a documentary about his mother.
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duke → reveal → mother
The Telegraph understands that Harry wants to mark the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death, on August 31 next year, by honouring her legacy “in the most meaningful way”.
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He has approached several friends and relatives of his late mother, including her brother, the Earl Spencer, to ask whether they would take part in a documentary.
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they → approach → documentary
The Telegraph, London
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