Prince Harry gets candid about ‘burnout’, ‘pressures’ during life-coaching summit

The Duke of Sussex appeared at a life-coaching summit, where he opened up about stress. Photo / AP

Prince Harry has gotten candid about the “pressures of today’s world” and his past struggles with “burnout” after making a surprise appearance at a life-coaching panel in San Francisco.

The Duke of Sussex dropped in at the Uplift summit which was hosted this year by BetterUp – of which he is chief impact officer.

The Prince attended the event on Wednesday alongside Dr Adam Grant, the chairman of the Centre for Purpose and Performance, and Kelly Jones, who is chief people officer at technology firm Cisco.

During the seminar, titled Beyond Burnout: Transforming C-Level Stress Into Strength, the royal shed light on how business leaders can best manage individualised stress situations.

According to the Sussex website, which he shares with his wife Meghan Markle, the trio examined “how C-level leaders manage the unique pressure of their roles, build resilience, and foster a culture that supports sustainable performance”.

The website went on to describe how the three speakers “dove into the psychological toll of leading through uncertainty, sharing personal anecdotes, evidence-based practices, and forward-thinking policies aimed at helping leaders thrive amid the pressures of today’s world and modern corporate life”.

Four pictures were also shared of the Duke of Sussex at the event, with one showing the prince alongside actress and fellow speaker Mindy Kaling.

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A post shared by Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling)

The outing comes a day after it was revealed that he and Markle are making their foray into US politics ahead of the 2024 presidential election in November.

The Sussexes, who stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and immigrated to California, partnered with the AI + Election Security Coalition, which “represents an acceleration of efforts to secure the 2024 election against threats enabled by artificial intelligence (AI)”.

Their campaign hopes to “prepare US voters for a possible deepfake onslaught during the election year”, according to Axios.

Working royals are not allowed to publicly express their opinions when it comes to issues of government. However, Harry and Meghan stepped back from official duties four years ago, and are therefore not expected to adhere to the rules. Since then, they have weighed in on various political matters.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have weighed in on the upcoming US presidential election. Photo / Getty Images

Harry and Meghan shared a clip in 2020 addressing misinformation during the US election. In the video, the Duke of Sussex encouraged hopeful voters to “reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity” and his wife called the showdown between Donald Trump and Joe Biden “the most important election of our lifetime”.

The former Suits actress additionally “cold-called” a number of people at the time, urging them to vote, and joined forces with political activist and feminist Gloria Steinem.