xi's moments
Home | Europe

Prince William reveals concern for brother Harry after TV interview

By JONATHAN POWELL in London | China Daily Global | Updated: 2019-10-23 11:00

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, looks at her husband Prince Harry during the WellChild Awards pre-ceremony reception in London last week. [Photo/Agencies]

Prince William has reportedly expressed concern for his brother Harry after he talked about his mental health in a revealing TV documentary broadcast this week.

The royal brothers previously campaigned together to help open up conversations about mental health. In 2017, they and William's wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, took part in a charity fundraiser for their Heads Together initiative, which they set up to challenge stigma around the issue.

A Kensington Palace source told the BBC that the Duke of Cambridge is "worried" about his brother and is said to be hoping that Harry, Duke of Sussex, and his wife Meghan, "are all right" after they told an ITV documentary they were struggling. The palace said there was a view the couple were "in a fragile place".

In the documentary, the couple talked about the media criticism they have to endure. Harry said: "Part of this job is putting on a brave face but, for me and my wife, there is a lot of stuff that hurts, especially when the majority of it is untrue."

The couple, who married last year and became parents to a baby boy in early May, recently went to Southern Africa for their first official tour as a family.

The palace source played down suggestions that William was "furious" with his brother after the documentary aired on Sunday. It followed Harry's admission in the film that he and William have "good days" and "bad days".

Asked about media reports of a rift between the brothers, the Duke of Sussex said that "inevitably, stuff happens" as a result of "this family being under the pressure that it's under".

The Duchess of Sussex admitted she was naive about the British tabloid press and revealed she was warned they "will destroy your life". She said the year since getting married had been "hard", and she had tried to "adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip" as a coping mechanism, but soon abandoned the idea.

As a US citizen, she said that she "very naively" did not know about tabloids and "didn't get it".

Asked by ITV if it was fair to say she was "not really OK", the duchess said: "Yes".

Harry, 35, described his mental health and the way he deals with the pressures of his life as a matter of "constant management". He said: "I thought I was out of the woods and then suddenly it all came back, and this is something that I have to manage."

The comments come as the couple pursue legal actions against sections of the press, with Meghan suing the Mail on Sunday newspaper over a claim that it unlawfully published one of her private letters.

Harry filed his own proceedings at the High Court against the owners of the Sun, the defunct News of the World, and the Daily Mirror, in relation to alleged phone-hacking dating back more than a decade.

 

Global Edition
BACK TO THE TOP
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349