Prince Harry has made a brutal revelation while discussing the royal family and his own mental health journey in his new Netflix documentary, Heart of Invictus.
The Duke of Sussex, who speaks candidly throughout the five-part episode, discussed the impact of losing his mother, Princess Diana, at a young age and the effect touring Afghanistan had on him when he admitted that he didn't have the "support network" around to help.
Addressing the camera directly, he said: "The biggest struggle for me was the people," he began, adding: "No one around me could really help. I didn't have that support structure, that network or that expert advice to identify what was really going on with me."
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The Duke then made a candid revelation about the moment he realised he needed professional help with his mental health. "Unfortunately, like me, the first time you really consider therapy is when you're lying on the floor in the foetal position, probably wishing that you'd dealt with some of this stuff previously. And that's what I really want to change."
Earlier on in the documentary, Prince Harry then opened up about his tour of Afghanistan and what impact that had. "My tour of Afghanistan in 2012 flying Apache, somewhere after that there was an unravelling and the trigger to me was actually returning from Afghanistan but the stuff that was coming up was from 1997, from the age of 12."
He added: "Losing my mum at such a young age, the trauma that I had, I was never really aware of it was never discussed it was suppressed, I never really spoke about it like most youngsters would have done. But then when it all came fizzing out, I was buzzing off the walls, I was feeling everything rather than being numb."
Meanwhile, before the documentary landed on the streaming giant, the royal made an appearance at a movie theatre in California to surprise cinemagoers. HELLO! understands that Netflix planned US screeners for this week that Archewell partnered on, and that the Duke wanted to surprise the audience and spend time with veterans in San Diego.
He told those in the theatre, who were stunned by the Duke's appearance: "Tonight, you guys get to see Heart Of Invictus – which has been the last two years in the making – sooner than anybody else, so it will be coming out on Wednesday. You guys get to watch it tonight – or at least two episodes – to whet the appetite for the rest of it."
Heart of Invictus was filmed by a camera crew who followed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex during the 2022 games which took place in the Netherlands. Harry is its executive producer and the show forms part of the Sussexes' multimillion-pound deal with Netflix – with their main output so far being last year's Harry & Meghan documentary.
The synopsis for the five-part series says: "The multi-episode series will join the competitors as they train, and along the way reveal powerful stories of resilience and hope. The series will also follow the organizers as they work to prepare for the Games, postponed until next Spring, and as they partner with each nation's team to support their competitors over the coming year."