Prince Harry said he fell into depression during a six-week break in Canada in 2019, a period when he and his wife Meghan were weighing their future within the royal family, according to NBC News.
Speaking on a MasterClass videocast titled "Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss," Harry described an adrenaline crash that left him unable to function normally, NBC News reported. The videocast was published Friday, Oct. 9, 2026.
Harry, the younger son of King Charles III, has spoken publicly before about his mental health and about how the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a car crash when he was 12 shaped his life.
Why it matters
Harry's account adds detail to a period that preceded the couple's formal departure from royal duties, a decision that reshaped the public roles of two senior members of the British royal family.
His remarks also connect two threads he has returned to repeatedly in interviews and public appearances: the long-term effects of childhood bereavement and the strain he says he experienced inside the royal household.
Mental health advocates have pointed to high-profile disclosures like this one as a way to reduce stigma, though Harry's public comments have also drawn criticism from some quarters, including accusations that he is profiting from his family history.
What Harry said about the Canada trip
Harry recalled that tensions with the rest of the royal family were building in 2019, and that he and Meghan traveled to Canada for six weeks to consider what came next, according to NBC News.
He described the trip as a removal from a stressful environment that he said had kept his body flooded with adrenaline. Within two or three days of arriving, he said, he experienced a crash unlike anything he had felt before.
"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," he said, according to media reports cited by NBC News.
He said the depression lasted about two weeks and that he felt he could not function without adrenaline.
Emotional numbness after Diana's death
Harry also discussed the aftermath of his mother's death, saying he had spent a long time emotionally shut down.
"I'd spent so long emotionally numb to a large extent because nobody told me joy was still allowed," he said on the videocast, according to NBC News.
That remark echoes themes Harry has raised in previous interviews and in his memoir, where he wrote about grief that went unaddressed for years. Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
Family context and recent moves
NBC News reported that Harry and Meghan moved back to Britain two months ago with their son, Prince Archie, 7, and daughter, Princess Lilibet, 5, after six years living in California.
The couple's relationship with the wider royal family has remained strained. Harry and his brother, Prince William, who is heir to the throne, are barely on speaking terms, according to NBC News, following Harry's repeated public criticism of his family in interviews and in his book.
Mental health campaigning is one area the brothers still have in common, NBC News noted, even as their personal relationship has cooled.
The MasterClass appearance also drew attention beyond the mental health discussion. Yahoo Lifestyle Canada reported that critics accused Harry of "cashing in" on his mother's death through the paid videocast, while People.com compiled what it called his biggest revelations from the session. BBC coverage focused on his statement that he "slipped into depression" after leaving the UK for Canada. A separate report by Ukrainian National News highlighted a family rule Harry said he and Meghan follow in their marriage.
Harry has previously described panic attacks and anxiety in interviews and in his memoir, and he and Meghan have worked on mental health initiatives since stepping back from royal duties.
What to watch: whether Harry addresses the Canada period further in future interviews, and how the royal family responds, if at all, to his latest public remarks.
