Prince Harry, no longer a working member of the British Royal Family, has a new gig. He and wife Meghan have already signed an agreement to create content for Netflix and to present podcasts for Spotify. But it was just announced that the Duke of Sussex will now be the chief impact officer of BetterUp Inc., a coaching and mental health firm in Silicon Valley.
“I intend to help create impact in people’s lives,” Prince Harry said in an email to the Wall Street Journal. “Proactive coaching provides endless possibilities for personal development, increased awareness, and an all-round better life.”
In his new role as chief impact officer at a Silicon Valley coaching and mental health startup, Prince Harry is expected to have input into product strategy decisions and charitable contributions, and advocate publicly on topics related to mental health.https://t.co/ft5dS3Mow3
— Patrick Hedlund (@patrickhedlund) March 23, 2021
Prince Harry has long been outspoken on the issue of mental health. His late mother Princess Diana suffered from mental health issues, resulting in bulimia and even a few suicide attempts, journalist Andrew Morton revealed in a book he published in the early 1990s," Diana: Her True Story - in Her Own Words." She also addressed it quite candidly at a Turning Points conference in 1993.
“Isn’t it normal not to be able to cope all the time?" she asked. "Isn’t it normal for women as well as men to feel frustrated with life? Isn’t it normal to feel angry and want to change a situation that is hurting? Perhaps we need to look more closely at the cause of the illness rather than attempt to suppress it. To accept that putting a lid on powerful feelings and emotions cannot be the healthy option."
In 2017, Harry and his older brother Prince William had a candid conversation about how they didn't talk enough about their mother when they growing up because, as Harry explained, he "didn't want to think about it."
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"You have to prioritize your mental health," William said.
And Harry has been taking the advice.
“I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and sort of lies and misconceptions and everything are coming to you from every angle,” he told The Telegraph. “The experience I have had is that once you start talking about it, you realize that actually you’re part of quite a big club."
Harry and wife Meghan Markle were all over the news a few weeks back after their anticipated sit down interview with Oprah Winfrey aired. In their conversation, the couple made some shocking claims, including how members of the Royal Family made racist comments questioning how dark their son would be when he was born. Prince William replied to a Sky News inquiry by remarking, "We are very much not a racist family."
Harry also revealed that the Royal Family completely cut them off financially, but he was able to pay for a security detail with the money left to him by his mother.
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