On his Australia trip with Meghan Markle, Prince Harry talked about mental health and fatherhood, explaining how becoming a parent can bring up feelings you did not even know you still carried.
At a Movember event in Melbourne on April 15, Harry explained why he started therapy before he and Markle had children. He described it as basic preparation, doing the personal work first so he could show up the way he wanted to for his family.
Prince Harry confessed he ‘had stuff from the past he needed to deal with’
PEOPLE reported that Prince Harry opened up about mental health on his trip to Australia with Meghan Markle, revealing therapy helped him get ready for fatherhood, as he said, “Certainly from a therapy standpoint, you want to be the best version of yourself for your kids.”
During the discussion with Movember’s global director of men’s health research, Dr. Zac Seidler, the Duke of Sussex then admitted, “And I knew that I had stuff from the past that I needed to deal with.” Hence, he prepared to “basically cleanse myself of the past.”
Additionally, Harry spoke about the period right after Archie’s birth and how complicated it felt at times as he remembered his therapist telling him to “just be aware of how you feel once the baby is born.”
When the baby arrived, Harry said he initially noticed a “disconnection.” He described the gap with, “My wife was the one creating life, and I was there to witness it.”
Finally, Harry addressed the other dads in the room, including those who feel like they should keep it together at all times, telling them, “To the dads and soon-to-be dads: yes, it’s messy. You’ll have a rollercoaster of emotions — and don’t judge yourself,” while reminding them they are “not alone.”
Prince Harry sounded like someone who knows parenting can be daunting, and who decided that he did not want old wounds to take over during fatherhood, so he took care of his mental health first.
