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Harry says he 'slipped into depression' during royal exit

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Cite

Phillips, A. (2026, October 8). Harry says he 'slipped into depression' during royal exit. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c623dv9n93evo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

BBC News · collected 2026-10-08 · by Aleks Phillips

Quick Summary

Prince Harry revealed during a paid-for online masterclass on grief that he experienced depression for two weeks after moving to Canada in 2019, before settling in the United States. He discussed feeling emotionally numb following his mother Princess Diana's death and how he struggled with processing her loss until nearly two decades later when a therapist suggested he use her perfume as a trigger to unlock repressed emotions. Harry also mentioned that after crying at her funeral, he did not cry again for almost twenty years.
Written by AI on 2026-10-08, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Prince Harry revealed in a new MasterClass session on coping with grief that he "slipped into depression" for about two weeks after relocating from the UK to Canada in late 2019 with wife Meghan and their son Prince Archie. Harry, now 42, stated during his interview with neuroscientist Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor that he experienced an "adrenaline crash," feeling unable to function without stress-induced adrenaline once removed from the stressful environment of royal duties. He also discussed feeling emotionally numb for years following his mother Princess Diana's death in 1997, only later realizing she would have wanted him to be happy. Harry and Meghan moved to Montecito, California, but recently returned to the UK with their children Archie (now seven) and Lilibet (five), after six years away. The Duke of Sussex was reportedly paid around $100,000 for his MasterClass session on grief and mental health struggles.

Written for “Prince Harry Depression After Royal Exit” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 7 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Prince Harry Depression After Royal Exit
Entertainment · 8 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 14% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 1 of 26 claims Outlet record 61/100
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 67/100
National Post
Hedges 2 of 28 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Straits Times
Hedges 1 of 11 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 21 claims Outlet record 66/100
Daily Mail
Hedges 6 of 64 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Article A discusses Prince Harry's mental health struggles during his relocation to Canada and the US, while Article B focuses on a paid masterclass where he spoke about grief and depression.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
3 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
BBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
8
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-08 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

BBC News · 5107 article(s) · 7 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Aleks Phillips
17 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 - Published A team of researchers are on their way to a remote island to inspect what they think could be the wreckage of famed aviator Amelia Earhart's plane.
🔮 "I actually slipped into depression for about two weeks and I felt like I couldn't function without adrenaline."
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Also by Aleks Phillips
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 17 articles by Aleks Phillips →

Topics

Afghanistan Army California Canada University of Arizona

Subjects

Harry PERSON · 3× California GPE · 2× Canada GPE · 2× Diana PERSON · 2× Meghan PERSON · 2× Prince Harry PERSON · 2× Archie PERSON · 1× Lilibet PERSON · 1× The Duke of Sussex PERSON · 1× the Prince of Wales PERSON · 1×

Narrative

"Being in Canada, away from the stressful environment where presumably my body was just pumped full of adrenaline, within two or three days, I experienced this adrenaline crash, something that I'd never experienced before," he recalled.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-08
🔮 "I actually slipped into depression for about two weeks and I felt like I couldn't function without adrenaline."
2026-10-08 · BBC News
Harry says he 'slipped into depression' during royal exit · assertive framing

Claims (22 extracted, 3 hedged)

- Published The Duke of Sussex has said he "slipped into depression for about two weeks" after relocating to Canada in 2019 ahead of his move to the US. asserted
he → publish → US
Prince Harry, who with his wife Meghan and their two children recently returned to the UK, said he had originally left the country to "get some space" while opening up about his mental health. asserted
he → return → health
The duke also discussed a prolonged period of feeling "emotionally numb" following the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, because he felt "disloyal and guilty for the possibility of being happy and joyful without her". asserted
he → discuss → her
He and his brother, the Prince of Wales, have previously been candid about their mental health struggles, including over their mother's death, and both are involved in mental health charities. asserted
both → include → charities
Prince Harry, who later stepped back from royal duties to move to California with Meghan, spoke about his emotional upheavals as part of a paid-for online masterclass on dealing with grief. asserted
who → step → grief
"Being in Canada, away from the stressful environment where presumably my body was just pumped full of adrenaline, within two or three days, I experienced this adrenaline crash, something that I'd never experienced before," he recalled. asserted
he → pump → that
"It was as if I needed stress in order to get the adrenaline to make my brain function because I became useless around the house. asserted
I → need → house
"I actually slipped into depression for about two weeks and I felt like I couldn't function without adrenaline." asserted
I → slip → adrenaline
The couple unexpectedly announced last month that they were returning to the UK with Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, after spending six years in the US. asserted
they → announce → US
They are now thought to be living in the Cotswolds. asserted
They → think → Cotswolds
In the video, Prince Harry also revealed that he had a rule that he would never be away from his family for more than 10 days. asserted
he → reveal → days
He talked about struggling to process his grief in the years after the death of his mother when he was 12. asserted
he → talk → mother
"In my 20s, I went to war twice thinking I could outrun my feelings," the duke said, referring to his stints in Afghanistan as a member of the Army. uncertain
duke → go → Army
"But that's not what happened. " asserted
what → happen → ?
I'd spent so long emotionally numb, to a large extent, because I felt disloyal and guilty for the possibility of being happy and joyful without her. asserted
I → spend → her
"I felt like I had to be sad and I had to be emotionally numb in order to prove to her that I missed her." asserted
I → feel → her
Prince Harry said that after crying at Diana's funeral, he did not cry for nearly two decades, multiple news outlets reported. asserted
outlets → say → decades
He said it was a therapist who suggested he spray her perfume to "unlock everything", adding that this allowed him to discover that "she just wanted me to be happy". uncertain
me → say → everything
Mary-Frances O'Connor, a neuroscientist and University of Arizona professor who also featured in the online class, explained: "Your brain doesn't register your loved one as gone - it registers them as lost. " asserted
it → feature → them
And it will keep searching until you teach it otherwise. asserted
you → keep → it
We still expect that they're going to walk through the door." asserted
they → expect → door
MasterClass approached Harry about appearing in the programme last year and it was filmed in California over the summer, according to People magazine. uncertain
it → approach → magazine
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