Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex speak on stage during WE Day UK 2019 at The SSE Arena on March 06, 2019 in London, England. Getty Images
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex speak on stage during WE Day UK 2019 at The SSE Arena on March 06, 2019 in London, England. Getty Images
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex speak on stage during WE Day UK 2019 at The SSE Arena on March 06, 2019 in London, England. Getty Images
Prince Harry is once again emphasising that his family turned a blind eye to the struggles of his wife Meghan Markle, saying he will "never be bullied into silence".
In a new documentary series released on Friday on Apple TV+, the grandson of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II says he felt ashamed going to his family, because he knew "that I'm not going to get from my family what I need".
"I thought my family would help, but every single ask, request, warning, whatever it is, just got met with total silence or total neglect," Harry tells Oprah Winfrey in the emotional first episode of the showThe Me You Can't See, which he co-produced with Winfrey.
The series comes out a day after the release of an independent inquiry in Britain that found that a BBC journalist used falsified documents to land a sensational 1995 sit-down with Princess Diana, the mother of Harry and his elder brother William. In the Panaroma interview she detailed her troubled marriage to Prince Charles.
Both Prince Harry and his spouse have detailed mental struggles, with Meghan saying she had suicidal thoughts in 2019.
The couple sat with Winfrey at length for a CBS interview broadcast in early March, triggering the royal family's biggest crisis since Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997.
Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in this undated handout photo. Reuters
Focused on combatting the stigma surrounding the issue of mental health, the new docuseries does not drop any new bombshells, but it sees the youngest son of Prince Charles and Diana deal a new blow to the Windsor family.
Prince Harry recently said returning to London to attend Prince Philip's funeral last month meant once more facing a place where he felt trapped and hunted by cameras. It would be a test of his ability to cope with the anxiety that was bubbling up again.
"I was worried about it, I was afraid," Harry told The Associated Press.
He said he was able to work through any trepidation using coping skills learnt in therapy.
The multi-episode docuseries, focusing on mental health and well-being, was created and produced by Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey. AP
“It definitely made it a lot easier, but the heart still pounds,” he said, revealing that he first saw a therapist approximately four years ago at the encouragement of then-girlfriend Meghan. They’d had an argument and she recognised his anger seemed misplaced.
In the new series, Prince Harry focuses criticism particularly on his father, who previously was accused of indifference towards his children.
"My father used to say to me when I was younger, to both William and I: 'It was like that for me, so it's going to be like that for you,'" the Duke of Sussex, 36, tells Winfrey.
"That doesn't make sense. Just because you suffered that 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 that you had, you can make it right for your kids."
(L-R) Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrive to attend Christmas Day Church service at Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate on December 25, 2018 in King's Lynn, England. Getty Images
Prince Harry has spoken to his father several times since the CBS interview came out, notably after the funeral of his grandfather, according to British media.
But their relations remain tense.
The majority of Britons hold unfavourable opinions of Harry and Meghan, according to a recent YouGov poll, while Prince Charles's ratings have jumped.
Some British press accuses the couple of denouncing media treatment but also using coverage to boost their image.
In the series, Prince Harry says that as a boy he felt powerless to protect his mother, who was constantly hounded by the press.
He says his experience with therapy "equipped me to be able to take on anything" and especially helped him cope with the death of his mother when he was 12.
Being with Meghan, he says, helped him realise the importance of mental health: "I knew that if I didn't do the therapy and fix myself that I was going to lose this woman who I could see spending the rest of my life with."
Being with Meghan helped him realise the importance of mental health, Prince Harry said. Getty Images
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in January 2020 announced they would quit frontline royal duties. They relocated to California, where Meghan is from.
In The Me You Can't See, Harry says his greatest regret is not "making more of a stance earlier in my relationship with my wife and calling out the racism" the former actor faced from British press and social media.
The prince does not direct any accusations of racism towards his family in the documentary, though in March he said a relative was concerned over his son's skin colour before he was born.
That allegation shook Buckingham Palace, with his brother Prince William, jumping to defend the institution: "We're very much not a racist family."
Prince Harry's self-work may be relatively recent but he and older brother William, The Duke of Cambridge, have long championed the importance of mental health. In 2016, Harry, William and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, launched Heads Together, an initiative to speak up and not be ashamed to ask for help when mental well-being is at stake.
Their collective work led to interactions with people across the globe, from all walks of life, and they recognised a common thread. "Sharing your story in order to be able to save a life or help others is absolutely critical," says Harry.
Winfrey was already working with Apple to develop a series on mental health when a conversation with Harry sparked the idea to join forces.
“We were having a conversation and I asked him, ‘What are the two most important issues you think facing the world today?’ And he said immediately, ‘climate change and mental health.’ She mentioned the project and Winfrey recalls him later saying: ‘Oh, by the way, if you ever need any help with that … give me a call.’ And I went and turned around and said, ‘What’s your number?’”
Winfrey's partnership with Apple created a rare opportunity to reach the vast number of people who use the company's devices, Prince Harry said.
"If that's in a billion pockets on a billion screens, then maybe we can really start a global conversation about this," he says.
The Apple Original multi-part documentary series delves into mental health issues and feature segments from athletes and stars, including Lady Gaga and Glenn Close. Other participants in the series include NBA players DeMar DeRozan and Langston Galloway, Olympic boxer Virginia "Ginny" Fuchs and chef Rashad Armstead.
– Additional reporting by AP and AFP
The biog:
Favourite book: The Leader Who Had No Title by Robin Sharma
Pet Peeve: Racism
Proudest moment: Graduating from Sorbonne
What puts her off: Dishonesty in all its forms
Happiest period in her life: The beginning of her 30s
Favourite movie: "I have two. The Pursuit of Happiness and Homeless to Harvard"
Role model: Everyone. A child can be my role model
Slogan: The queen of peace, love and positive energy
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)
Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)
Saturday
Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Poland Statement
All people fleeing from Ukraine before the armed conflict are allowed to enter Poland. Our country shelters every person whose life is in danger - regardless of their nationality.
The dominant group of refugees in Poland are citizens of Ukraine, but among the people checked by the Border Guard are also citizens of the USA, Nigeria, India, Georgia and other countries.
All persons admitted to Poland are verified by the Border Guard. In relation to those who are in doubt, e.g. do not have documents, Border Guard officers apply appropriate checking procedures.
No person who has received refuge in Poland will be sent back to a country torn by war.
Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Profile of Foodics
Founders: Ahmad AlZaini and Mosab AlOthmani
Based: Riyadh
Sector: Software
Employees: 150
Amount raised: $8m through seed and Series A - Series B raise ongoing
