What is 'genetic pain'? Prince Charles told Harry would have to suffer like him, advised son to 'play the game'
Prince Harry sounded off against his father's parenting in a new mental health documentary series with Oprah Winfrey, alleging that his father told him he would suffer the same problems he did as a senior royal.
Harry recounted his childhood memories on Apple TV's 'The Me You Can't See', including the tragic death of his mother Diana. According to him, Prince Charles would often advise him to "play the game" to improve his life, the Daily Mail reported.
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"My father used to say to me when I was younger, he used to say to both William and I, 'well it was like that for me so it's going to be like that for you'," Harry told Oprah. "That doesn't make sense. Just because you suffered doesn't mean that your kids have to suffer, in fact quite the opposite. If you suffered, do everything you can to make sure that whatever negative experiences you had, that you can make it right for your kids," he added.
Harry told Oprah that he had no intention of playing the "game". "I've got a hell of a lot of my mum in me. The only way to free yourself and break out is to tell the truth," he said.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been quite open about their mental health struggles, with Meghan recalling how she had suicidal thoughts in 2019 during the couple's tell-all CBS interview with Oprah in March. According to Harry, he did not approach his family about Meghan feeling suicidal as she was ashamed that the situation had gotten "that bad." Furthermore, he said he also felt ashamed to ask his family for help because he knew "that I'm not going to get from my family what I need."
"That was one of the biggest reasons to leave, feeling trapped and feeling controlled through fear, both by the media and by the system itself which never encouraged the talking about this kind of trauma," Harry, who co-produced the new docuseries with Oprah, said. "Certainly now I will never be bullied into silence."
What's more? Harry also accused the royal family of "total neglect" as he insisted he will "not be bullied" on 'The Me You Can't See'. "Every single ask, request, warning, whatever it is, to stop just got met with total silence or total neglect," he told Oprah. "We spent four years trying to make it work. We did everything that we possibly could to stay there and carry on doing the role and doing the job."
Harry also told the seasoned interviewer how his family chose not to speak about his mother's death and expected him to simply deal with the press attention and mental distress, according to the newspaper.
Last week, Harry made similar comments while speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast with host Dax Shepard. He insisted that he wanted to "break the cycle" of "genetic pain and suffering" for the sake of his own children's future well-being. "He's treated me the way he was treated, so how can I change that for my own kids?" Prince Harry said to Dax on that podcast.