By Sheila Mcknzie
The Duke of Sussex is to reunite with Oprah Winfrey to “go deeper” into the mental health stories explored in their Apple TV series.
The pair will join participants and experts to host a “town hall” discussion entitled The Me You Can’t See: A Path Forward, which is to air on Friday.
According to the Archewell website, the programme would begin to answer the question: “Where do we go from here?” That question is a problem for many of the pair’s critics who want them to stop talking and continue with life. Life for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has never been the same ever since they got married, and more intense since they took a step back from the royal duties.
It is quite apparent to most mental health experts that the couple have suffered serious mental health issues due to royal life and media pressure. Media criticism has largely been in response to Harry discrediting their family in public, and the public criticism he has faced has been a response to his hard feelings about all that has taken place since he married Meghan Markle.
Last week, the Duke of Sussex criticised the parenting skills of his father, Prince Charles ,the Prince of Wales. Prince Harry criticised Charles for expecting his sons to endure the pressures of royal life in the same way he did, accusing his family of “total neglect” when he approached them for help in the face of his wife feeling suicidal. He said he planned to break the cycle of genetic pain.
Harry also revealed he turned to drink and drugs as he dealt with the trauma of his mother’s death in later life. That trauma was Where the documentary goes from here is to be seen on Friday.
The Archewell website said: “In The Me You Can’t See: A Path Forward, Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey reunite with participants and experts from the series for a thought-provoking, wide-ranging discussion to build on their initial conversations around mental health and wellbeing.”
“The subjects go deeper into their own stories from the series, the experts share their guidance, and together they begin to answer the critical question: Where do we go from here?”.
It added: “The insightful and expansive town hall features members of The Me You Can’t See advisory board, as well as series participants including Glenn Close; Zak Williams, a mental health advocate and speaker; and Ambar Martinez, an author and OnTrack NY peer counsellor.”
Since Prince Harry’s last public comments, he has been criticised by his mother’s former butler, Paul Burrell, who said Princess Diana would not have wanted her son to discredit his family in this way, and has advised the Duke Of Sussex to get on with his life.
The hard fact is that Prince Harry is too hurt to keep quiet, and seems intent on pouring out his heart as part of his own process.
Where Harry goes from here in his next appearance is yet to be seen.