Published October 08, 2026
For years Prince Harry carried his pain in silence but now the walls have finally crumbled and in one raw and unguarded moment he has revealed the true depth of his heartbreak over his royal exit with Meghan Markle and Prince Archie.
The Duke of Sussex, 42, explained how he slipped into depression after moving to Canada following his bombshell decision of stepping back as senior working royal.
In his deeply personal new MasterClass with Dr Mary-Frances O'Connor Harry admits that some wounds never truly heal and stay with you for life.
READ MORE: Prince Harry bares his soul in heartbreaking video about Princess Diana
“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,” Harry revealed for the first time in years.
“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.”
The Duke continues, “I actually slipped into depression for about two weeks and I felt like I couldn’t function without adrenaline.”
The Sussexes, who welcomed Archie in May 2019, spent the end of that year in Canada with their infant son. In January 2020, the couple announced their intention to step back as senior working members of the British royal family.
Harry recalls that the move was meant “to get some space away from everything just to be able to think.”
The former senior working royal shared these revelations with neuroscientist Dr Mary-Frances O'Connor while exploring the profound effects of grief on the brain and body through his own experience of losing loved ones at a very young age.
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