'Mom felt the same': Prince Harry opens up to trauma expert Gabor Mate, says he 'always felt different'

Prince Harry explained how he and his mother Princess Diana always felt like outsiders within the royal family

UPDATED MAR 5, 2023

In an interview with Dr Gabor Mate (L), Prince Harry shared how he and his mother Princess Diana felt within the family (@DrGaborMate/Twitter, Henry Nicholls/Getty Images)

MONTECITO, CALIFORNIA: After going ahead with his scheduled interview with controversial trauma expert Dr Gabor Mate, Prince Harry talked about his mother Princess Diana, his memoir 'Spare,' and a bit more ‘intimate’ emotions growing up in a royal family. "Certainly throughout my life, throughout my younger years, I always felt slightly different from the rest of my family. I felt strange being in this container, and I know that my mum felt the same," said the Duke of Sussex.

He further explained how both of them always felt like an outsider within the family, “It makes sense to me — it didn't make sense at the time — I felt as though my body was in there, but my head was out, but sometimes it was vice-versa. The times that I ventured towards being myself, being my authentic true self, whether it was through media or family or whatever it was, it was almost like, 'Don't be yourself, come back to what you're expected to be,' if that makes sense."

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'I want this to be an act of service'

While talking about his memoir, he said "I really hope, and I hoped right from the beginning, when I turned around to the people that were helping me write this book, I said, 'I want this to be an act of service, it needs to be, because I know important it is, because you're almost giving permission for people to talk about their own stuff, and be their own selves, and society doesn't really help us." Prince Harry also told Mate, "And I would say even more so within my family, because of the expectations and because of how you're cast as individuals," reports People.

'I felt that I learned a new language'

Recalling his days while going through therapy, the 38-year-old said, "A lot of families are complicated, a lot of families are dysfunctional, but for me when I was doing therapy regularly... I felt that I learned a new language." He further said, "This is working for me and I'm starting to go back to the point of trauma and unpack everything so I can be truly happy... but at the same time I'm feeling more and more distant from my loved ones and my family."