Prince Harry Addresses Contradicting Statements About Therapy, Family: Report

Prince Harry's recent statements about his mental health and his family contradict his previous remarks and his spokesperson explained why.

The Duke of Sussex has made several explosive claims about his mental health and family's support in his interview with Dax Shepard in the "Armchair Expert" podcast and "The Me You Can't See" docuseries. However, BuzzFeed News noted that Prince Harry's recent statements somehow contradicted his previous words.

The outlet asked the Duke of Sussex for comment about his conflicting statements and his spokesperson drew a distinction between Prince Harry's private struggles and public advocacy. The spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that although Prince Harry sought mental health treatment before meeting Markle, it was the duchess who was the catalyst for finding a therapist who could provide him with the care and support he needed.

Additionally, the spokesperson also acknowledged that his advocacy for mental health and personal journey to recovery overlapped but stressed that it was starting a relationship with the Duchess of Sussex and eventually finding a good therapist that boosted his confidence to be more open about his mental health journey and become an effective advocate.

Prince Harry has branded himself as an ambassador of mental health awareness. He founded the Invictus Games, an international sporting event for veterans, and launched a nationwide mental health awareness campaign, called Heads Together, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. He also recently co-produced "The Me You Can't See" with Oprah Winfrey.

However, his statements in his recent interviews seemed to contradict his previous remarks. For instance, Prince Harry fondly spoke about his family during his engagement interview with Meghan Markle in 2017 and how supportive they were of them when they were getting married. In fact, according to Prince Harry, his family was aware of their plans but did not leak them.

"The family together have been absolutely, you know, a solid support and my grandparents as well have been — have been wonderful throughout this whole process and they've known for quite some time. So how they — how they haven't told anybody is again a miracle in itself. But now the whole family have come together and have been a huge amount of support," Prince Harry said.

However, Prince Harry's tone changed when he spoke about his family in the Apple TV+ docuseries. The royals were allegedly unsupportive of his and his wife's mental health struggles. According to him, there was a point when Markle was suicidal and they asked for help but it was met with total silence.

"I thought my family would help, but every single ask, request, warning, whatever, it is just got met with total silence, total neglect," Prince Harry was quoted by People as saying in the docuseries. "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. But Meghan was struggling."

The Sussexes decided to leave the royal family because Markle was having difficulties adjusting to the royal life. The duchess said she was being silenced and she felt that the palace did not protect her as promised. Meanwhile, for Prince Harry's part, he didn't want to lose another woman in his life after his mom, Princess Diana.

"After everything that happened to my mum — and to now be put in a position of losing another woman in my life with a baby inside of her, our baby?" he said. "I then had a son who I’d far rather be solely focused on. Rather than every time I look into his eyes, wondering if my wife is going to end up like my mother."

Prince Harry also made different statements as to who encouraged him to get help for his mental health struggles. Prince Harry has been open about his anxiety and trauma after Princess Diana's death. In fact, it came to a point when he was willing to take drugs, drink and do anything that could make him feel less like what he was experiencing.

In 2017, Prince Harry said he decided to seek professional help on the advice of several relatives including his big brother, Prince William. In fact, he was very grateful to the Duke of Cambridge for being a huge support for him.

"For me, my brother - God bless him - has been an enormous support," Prince Harry was quoted by Forbes, as saying.

Royal biographer Angela Levin author of "Harry: A Biography of a Prince" also said Prince Harry credited his brother in a previous interview when she asked him if Markle was the one who convinced him to seek help.

"When I interviewed at length in Kensington Palace in 2017, I asked him if he was going because Meghan suggested it. I asked if she had persuaded him. He said, 'Absolutely not, she's had nothing to do with it, it was William,'" Levin said.

However, in his interview with Shepard, he told the host that it was "a conversation that I had with my now-wife" that led him to start therapy. According to Prince Harry, they were having an intense argument at the time and Markle mentioned that he needed to get help.

"When she said, 'I think you need to see someone,' it was in reaction to an argument that we had," Prince Harry recounted as quoted by USA Today. "And in that argument, not knowing about it, I reverted back to 12-year-old Harry."

"I quickly established that if this relationship was going to work, that I was going to have to deal with my past, because there was anger there," he added.

The prince credited Markle for his mental health journey. According to him, he sought help because he didn't want to lose the duchess in his life.

"I saw GPs. I saw doctors. I saw therapists. I saw alternative therapists. I saw all sorts of people, but it was meeting and being with Meghan," Prince Harry said. "I knew that if I didn’t do the therapy and fix myself that I was going to lose this woman who I could see spending the rest of my life with."

Royal biographer Katie Nicholl, author of "Harry: Life, Loss, and Love" reacted to Prince Harry's new statement because she felt like he erased his brother and father's contribution in helping him with his mental health.

"What I would like to hear Harry say is that the first person to suggest that he go into therapy was his brother," Nicholl said on True Royalty TV's "The Royal Beat." "A lot of people are upset that Harry is conveniently erasing what he has said before and giving us this new narrative. That it was his wife that got him into therapy when actually, initially it was his brother and his father that encouraged him to get it."