31 August 2023 , 12:17
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Former royal butler Paul Burrell has sensationally hit out at Prince Harry for claiming in his Netflix series that he had no "support structure" following the death of his mother.
Prince Harry, 38, made the shocking claim during his Netflix docu-series Heart Of Invictus where he explains that returning from his final tour of Afghanistan triggered his mental health issues, related to the trauma of losing his mother, aged 12. But the former butler of the royal household, who has often spoken about his close relationship with the late Princess Diana, has adamantly rebuked the Duke's claim.
Prince Harry has discussed his mental health in a new documentary (netflix)During an interview with GB News, Paul, 62, dubbed Prince Harry a "privileged prince" who is "whinging." Paul claimed he was there at the time as a comfort and the young Prince "soaked my shirt with his tears". Paul also said that King Charles and the late Queen Elizabeth II were all part of the support network.
He went on to tell show host Dan Wooton: "He had an enormous support system behind closed doors, with his brother too, you know. I just can't help but feel here we go again, down the same old track. We're going down this track of 'oh look at me because I lost my mother', lots of people have lost their mother and their parents in road traffic accidents. I just feel that this is wrong."
But he didn't stop there. He continued: "To use this particular element of losing his mother yet again, I mean, he's used it in his book, he's used it in other documentaries. And how many times can he talk about this? Quite frankly people in Britain are now thinking 'well actually Harry, we're quite fed up of hearing you whinging about your life. You live a wonderful life now in California, why do you keep bringing this up when your brother doesn't?'"
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The late Princess Diana tragically died in 1997 after the vehicle she was in was being chased at high speed while in Paris and crashed, killing both her and Dodi Al-Fayed. Prince Harry firmly believes that the death of his mother was not discussed within the Royal Family and he finally sought professional help after hitting rock bottom.
The five-part docu-series, which launched earlier this week, follows a group of former military servicemen and women on their road to the paralympic style sporting competition Invictus, which Prince Harry set up in 2014. In the second episode, Prince Harry explains how his final tour of Afghanistan in 2012 triggered the trauma he suffered losing his mother.
He candidly said on the programme: "I can only speak from my personal experience, my tour of Afghanistan in 2012, flying Apaches. Somewhere after that, there was an unravelling. The trigger to me was actually returning from Afghanistan. But the stuff that was coming up was from the age of, 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. I didn’t really talk about it and I suppressed it like most youngsters would have done, but then when it all came fizzing out, I was bouncing off the walls. I was like ‘what is going on here? I’m now feeling everything as opposed to being numb."
He added: "The biggest struggle for me was … no-one around me really could help. I didn’t have that support structure, that network or that expert advice to identify what was actually going on with me. Unfortunately, like most of us, 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 the stuff previously, and that’s what I really want to change."
Fans have been left unimpressed with Prince Harry's Netflix show, especially as he was constantly swearing. Taking to Twitter one wrote: "Harry dropping the f bomb 5 minutes into the first episode #HeartOfInvictus." And another said: "He is ungovernable."
Mental Health: *If you are struggling with mental health, you can speak to a trained advisor from Mind mental health charity on 0300 123 3393 or email [email protected]