In the wake of his new controversial memoir, Spare, which has created a ruckus across the globe, Prince Harry has dropped yet another bombshell about his life as a British royal. This time, it involves his past struggles with substance abuse and alcoholism, which he admittedly embraced to drown his grief in the aftermath of his mom Princess Diana’s death. Prince Harry detailed this rebellious phase of his life during an interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes.
The sitdown, which was part of the 38-year-old’s media publicity for his new memoir, released on Monday, January 2023, featured the royal throwing more light on the book, and his fallout with the other British royals. He also touched on the loss of his beloved mom and the impact on him years later.
Substance Abuse Worked As A Medicine For Prince Harry
Speaking to Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, Prince Harry explained how his mom’s 1997 demise left him with a lot of pent-up anger, which the then-twelve-year-old never expressed to anybody. However, his silence and attempt at gaining a leash on his emotions led Prince Harry to express that grief in a more disturbing manner like substance abuse. He divulged:
“I resorted to drinking heavily because I wanted to numb the feeling or I wanted to distract myself from how.. whatever I was thinking. And I would, you know, resort to drugs as well.”
Harry admitted that as a kid, part of his anger buildup resulted from the knowledge that the British press played a part in his mom’s misery. Anderson explained in a voice-over that Prince Harry felt hopeless and lost in his late twenties, which prompted his pull to weed and cocaine.
He also explored hallucinogenic mushrooms and other psychedelics as an alternative to crying. While those experimental drugs may have worked for him at the time to lessen the burden of grief, the Duke of Sussex now understood they were simply temporary fixes. He divulged:
“I would never recommend people to do this recreationally. But doing it with the right people if you are suffering from a huge amount of loss, grief or trauma, then these things have a way of working as a medicine.”
For Prince Harry, substance abuse and the use of other experimental fixes gave him clarity. He realized for the first time since his mom’s demise in a car crash, that he did not need to cry to prove to his mom that he missed her. Rather, he understood that all the late Princess of Wales wanted was for him to be happy.
Armed with the realization, he reviewed the police case file of his mom’s death, including those containing images of cameramen snapping her body in the car after the accident. He also visited the scene of the accident to replay the incidents from his perspective. That way, he could decide whether the British paps, and not his mom’s allegedly drunk chauffeur, was indeed responsible for the crash.
Reliving that moment and his subsequent discoveries finally helped Prince Harry find closure without further dependency on substance abuse.