Prince Harry says he came from a ‘broken home’ in interview with ‘trauma expert’

Prince Harry during a live-streamed interview with trauma expert Dr Gabor Maté.

Prince Harry has spoken about his difficulties in coming from a “broken home” in his first interview since news broke that he and his wife have been evicted from Frogmore Cottage.

It has been suggested that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s children may not develop a relationship with the King if the couple are not provided with accommodation in the UK, The Telegraph previously reported.

In a ticketed live-streamed interview on Friday with trauma expert Dr Gabor Maté to promote his memoir, Spare, the Duke described himself as coming from a “broken home” and suggested this had made him suitable for a career in the military.

Military ‘recruit from broken homes’

The Duke, who served tours in Afghanistan, said he was a “fantastic candidate for the military”, adding: “I don’t know how it is around the rest of the world but certainly in the UK we tend to recruit from broken homes – you know, individuals who are ready for it.”

Maté said during the event, for which tickets cost GBP£19 (NZ$36) per head, that the Duke had grown up in an environment where children lacked “being held”, adding of the late Queen Elizabeth: “At some point you wanted to hug your grandmother but it wasn’t done.”

The Duke, who served tours in Afghanistan, said he was a 'fantastic candidate for the military'.

During the interview, Prince Harry also said he had urged other members of the Royal family to have therapy.

He said that “a lot of families are complicated and a lot of families are dysfunctional as well”, adding that therapy had taught him a “new language” that he felt his relatives did not speak.

“So I actually felt more pushed aside and then I said to my therapist: ‘Ok, I’ve got a problem – this is working for me … so that I can now live a truly authentic life and be genuinely happy and be a better dad for my kids, but at the same time I’m feeling more and more distant from my loved ones and my family, this is a problem’,” he said.

The Duke also said that a therapist had diagnosed him with PTSD previously, triggered by the death of his mother.

He said that elements of his childhood were “incredible” while others were “incredibly painful”, adding that both he and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, “try their best to make sure you don’t hand on any traumas that you have as a parent”.