Prince Harry opens up about the night Meghan told him she felt suicidal

Prince Harry has spoken about the night Meghan Markle told him “the practicalities of how she was going to end her life” while she was six months pregnant with son Archie.

Speaking with Oprah Winfrey as part of the duke’s new Apple TV+ docuseries titled: The Me You Can’t See, Harry spoke candidly about how he and his wife decided to step back from their roles as senior members of the royal family and the role of both “traditional and social media” in vilifying Meghan.

On the night in question, the couple were due to attend the Royal Albert Hall for a charity event.

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Harry said that people may recognise the photograph of the couple squeezing each other’s hands as they walked into the historic London building.

“What perhaps people don’t understand is, earlier that evening Meghan decided to share with me the suicidal thoughts and the practicalities of how she was going to end her life,” he said.

“The scariest thing for her was her clarity of thought,” he revealed.

“She hadn’t lost it, she wasn’t crazy, she wasn’t self-medicating be it through pills or through alcohol, she was absolutely sober. She was completely sane, yet in the quiet of night, these thoughts woke her up.

“The thing that stopped her from seeing it through was how unfair it would be on me after everything that had happened to my mum and to now be put into a position of losing another woman in my life, with a baby inside of her, our baby.”

In the emotional disclosure, Prince Harry admitted that he felt “somewhat ashamed” at the way he dealt with his wife’s admission.

“Because of the system that we were in and the responsibilities and the duties that we had, we had a quick cuddle. And then we had to get changed and jump in a convoy with a police escort and drive to the Royal Albert Hall for a charity event and then step out into a wall of cameras and pretend as though everything is okay.

“There wasn’t an option to say, ‘you know what, tonight, we’re not going to go’. Because just imagine the stories that come from that.

“While my wife and I were in those chairs gripping each other’s hand, the moment the lights go down, Meghan starts crying. I’m feeling sorry for her but I’m also really angry with myself that we’re stuck in this situation.

“I was ashamed that it got this bad, I was ashamed to go to my family because to be honest with you, like a lot of other people my age can probably relate to, I know I’m not going to get from my family what I need,” he said.

The revealing interview, which comes less than three months after the Duke and Duchess sat down with Winfrey for an explosive tell-all conversation, is now streaming on Apple TV+.

Forming part of a new series about mental health, the Prince speaks openly about his mother, Princess Diana, the coping mechanisms he adapted to try and manage his grief, and the Royal Family.

You can find helpful tips on how to start a conversation, or if you are worried about someone else, on the Samaritans website.

You can contact the Samaritans helpline by calling 116 123. The helpline is free and open 24 hours a day every day of the year.

You can also contact Samaritans by emailing jo@samaritans.org. The average response time is 24 hours.