The thought of her, as always, gave me a jolt of hope, and a burst of energy. And a stab of sorrow.
Prince Harry’s reflection on his mother Princess Diana, who died unexpectedly when he was just 12 years old, appears in his memoir Spare, released officially this week.
In fact, the bestseller is marketed as a story about the “eternal power of love over grief”.
The book’s revelations, retold in high-profile TV interviews and featuring in his Netflix series, are the subject of much media coverage. These revelations chart the prince’s experience of mourning the traumatic death of his mother in public, media intrusion, and its long-term impacts.
On face value, Prince Harry may share typical symptoms of people suffering “complicated grief”. But not everyone agrees with how he “shows” his grief so publicly.
The myth of ‘time healing all wounds’
It’s been more than 25 years since the traumatic death of Prince Harry’s mother after a car crash in Paris. And with his family’s immense privilege, it’s easy to assume the need to explore the layers of grief that shape his experiences has passed its use-by date.
But the idea of “time healing all wounds” is a myth. Pain is ongoing. And by silencing someone’s pain, this can worsen it. The public, health professionals, the media and family can…
