Prince Harry says taking psychedelic DRUGS helped him deal with the ‘grief’ and ‘trauma’ of Princess Diana’s death – revealing he used magic mushrooms and ayahuasca as ‘medicine’ to ‘clear the misery of loss’
- Harry, 38, spoke about his drug use during an interview with 60 Minutes
- The Duke of Sussex said he used psychedelics like ayahuasca and mushrooms
- He said they were his ‘medicine’ after the ‘loss’ of his mom, who died in 1997
- He added they helped him realize he didn’t need to cry to prove he missed her
- The royal revealed he only broke down in tears once after her death
- In his upcoming book, Spare, he also admitted to using cocaine and cannabis
Prince Harry credited the use of psychedelic drugs with helping him deal with the ‘grief’ and ‘trauma’ he felt after the tragic death of his mom, Princess Diana.
The Duke of Sussex, 38, spoke out about his past drug use during an explosive new sit down interview with 60 Minutes, which aired on Sunday, and he called psychedelics like ayahuasca and magic mushrooms his ‘medicine’ after the huge ‘loss’ of his mother in 1997.
While Harry was only 12 when Diana tragically died in a car accident, he admitted in his upcoming book, Spare, that he struggled to come to grips with her sudden passing.
Now he has shared more details about his mother’s death with 60 Minutes host Anderson Cooper, explaining that he only cried once over his mother’s death – when her coffin was put in the ground – and that he was plagued with guilt over feeling like he was not being emotional enough over her passing for years.
Prince Harry admitted to using psychedelic drugs to deal with the ‘grief’ and ‘trauma’ he felt after the tragic death of his mom, Princess Diana
The Duke of Sussex, 38, spoke out about his past drug use during an interview with 60 Minutes, and he called the drugs his ‘medicine’ after the huge ‘loss’ of his mother in 1997
While Harry (seen at her funeral) was only 12 when Diana died in a car accident, he admitted in his upcoming book, Spare, that he struggled to come to grips with her sudden passing
Now, Harry (seen with Diana in 1987) admitted he only cried once over his mother’s death – and said he was plagued with guilt over feeling like he was not being emotional enough
But the former royal said using psychedelics when he got older ultimately ‘cleared away the idea’ that he needed be sad to prove he ‘missed’ his mom.
What is ayahuasca?
According to Healthline, ayahuasca is a plant-based psychedelic made from the leaves of the Psychotria viridis shrub along with the stalks of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine.
‘This drink was used for spiritual and religious purposes by ancient Amazonian tribes and is still used as a sacred beverage by some religious communities in Brazil and North America, including the Santo Daime,’ it explained.
‘The main ingredients of Ayahuasca – Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis -both have hallucinogenic properties.
‘When combined, these two plants form a powerful psychedelic brew that affects the central nervous system, leading to an altered state of consciousness that can include hallucinations, out-of-body experiences, and euphoria.’
‘I would never recommend people to do this recreationally,’ he said during the one-hour tell-all interview.
‘But doing it with the right people if you are suffering from a huge amount of loss, grief or trauma, then these things have a way of working as a medicine.
‘For me, they cleared the windscreen, the windshield, the misery of loss. They cleared away this idea that I had in my head that … I needed to cry to prove to my mother that I missed her. When in fact, all she wanted was for me to be happy.’
Harry explained during the sit down that he believes he didn’t cry over Diana’s death because he had ‘refused to accept that she was gone.’
He added that there was a huge ‘weight on his chest’ that he ‘felt for so many years’ over not shedding more tears – and that he even tried watching videos of her to bring forth his emotions.
‘I was constantly trying to find a way to cry, even sitting on my sofa and going over as many memories as I could muster up about my mum,’ he added. ‘And sometimes I watched videos online.’
In his memoir, Spare, which released in Spain last week and will premiere worldwide on January 10, Harry explained that he sought help from a therapist seven years ago, and that he ultimately decided to try psychedelics to help him come to terms with the pain from losing his mother – and he wrote that they allowed him to see ‘the truth’ and ‘redefine’ reality.
He explained that the drugs also helped him to discover ‘another reality,’ and even after they wore off, he said he saw a world that was ‘twice as beautiful.’
He recalled one time that he took magic mushrooms at a party in 2016 and began to hallucinate that a garbage can was talking to him.
But the former royal (seen in 10`6) said using psychedelics seven years ago ultimately ‘cleared away the idea’ that he needed be sad to prove he ‘missed’ his mom
‘I would never recommend people to do this recreationally,’ Harry (seen in 2004) said. ‘But if you are suffering from a huge amount of loss, grief or trauma, these things have a way of working as a medicine’
‘They cleared away this idea that I had that … I needed to cry to prove to my mother that I missed her,’ Harry (seen in 2012) said. ‘When in fact, all she wanted was for me to be happy’
‘Beside the toilet was a round silver bin, the kind with a foot pedal to open the lid. I stared at the bin. It stared back. Then it became… a head,’ he wrote, according to The Sun.
‘I stepped on the pedal and the head opened its mouth. A huge open grin. I laughed, turned away, took a p**s.
‘Now the loo became a head too. The bowl was its gaping maw, the hinges of the seat were its piercing silver eyes. It said, “Aaah.”‘
Elsewhere in his memoir, Harry also admitted to also smoking cannabis and using cocaine as a teen, and claimed he was once dragged into an office and questioned by a member of the Royal Household staff over the potential use of illegal drugs.
He said the grilling took place during the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, when he was 17, after a journalist asked Buckingham Palace about his illicit habits.
‘Of course I had been doing cocaine around this time,’ he said. ‘At someone’s country house during a hunting weekend, I’d been offered a line, and I’d done a few more since.
‘It wasn’t much fun, and it didn’t make me particularly happy, as it seemed to make everyone around me.
‘But it did make me feel different, and that was the main goal. Feel. Different. I was a deeply unhappy 17-year-old willing to try almost anything that would alter the status quo. That was what I told myself anyway.’
Harry (left) explained during the sit down interview with Anderson Cooper (right) that he believes he didn’t cry over Diana’s death because he had ‘refused to accept that she was gone’
Elsewhere in his memoir, Harry (seen in 2002, at age 17) admitted to using cocaine during his teen years, stating that he did drugs because he wanted to ‘feel different’
Harry (seen in 2009) said cocaine ‘wasn’t much fun,’ and described himself as a ‘deeply unhappy 17-year-old willing to try almost anything that would alter the status quo’
Harry previously opened up about using a bizarre therapy method known as EMDR – which uses hand taps and eye movements – to ‘process bad memories’
According to Healthline, ayahuasca – a plant-based South American drug that’s usually brewed into a tea – is made from the leaves of the Psychotria viridis shrub along with the stalks of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine.
Celebrities who have confessed to using ayahuasca
- Aaron Rodgers
- Chelsea Handler
- Will Smith
- Megan Fox
- Lindsay Lohan
- Sting
- Penn Badgley
- Miley Cyrus
- Paul Simon
- Tori Amons
- Ricki Lake
- Robin Quivers
- Josh Radnor
- Terrance Howard
- Chris Robinson
- Michelle Rodriguez
- James Scott
- Susan Sarandon
- William Burroughs
- Bren Lee
- Ron White
- Jim Carrey
‘This drink was used for spiritual and religious purposes by ancient Amazonian tribes and is still used as a sacred beverage by some religious communities in Brazil and North America, including the Santo Daime,’ it explained.
‘The main ingredients of ayahuasca – Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis -both have hallucinogenic properties.
‘When combined, these two plants form a powerful psychedelic brew that affects the central nervous system, leading to an altered state of consciousness that can include hallucinations, out-of-body experiences, and euphoria.’
Other celebrities who have admitted to using the drug include Aaron Rodgers, Julia Fox, Chelsea Handler, Will Smith, Megan Fox, Lindsay Lohan, Miley Cyrus, and Susan Sarandon, among others.
As for magic mushrooms, they include an ingredient called psilocybin – a hallucinogenic chemical that can cause feelings of euphoria and sensory distortion, according to Medical News Today.
Harry previously opened up about using a bizarre therapy method known as EMDR – which uses hand taps and eye movements – to ‘process bad memories.’
The principle of EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, is that the mind can heal from trauma by using external stimuli to help the brain process the traumatic experience and facilitate healing. It has a host of other celebrity fans, including Mel B and Jameela Jamil.
During a segment with psychotherapist Sanja Oakley on Apple TV+ in May 2021, called The Me You Can’t See, Harry demonstrated the process by closing his eyes and tapping his chest.
‘EMDR is always something that I’ve wanted to try and that was one of the varieties of different forms of healing or curing that I was willing to experiment with,’ he told Oprah about it.
‘And I never would have been open to that had I not put in the work and the therapy that I’ve done over the years.’
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