by Prince Harry treated Saturday during a livestreamed meeting with doctor and author Dr. Gabor Maté covered a wide range of topics, ranging from victimhood and the war in Afghanistan to the King’s thoughts on generational trauma and psychedelics.
Maté brought up passages from Harry’s memoir, Spare, in which he talked about experimenting with various substances, including cocaine, marijuana and alcohol.
While the king said that cocaine “didn’t do anything for me,” he said his experience with marijuana was “different” because it “actually really helped me.”
The Duke also spoke about his use of psychedelic drugs, which he said were like “cleaning a windshield” for him and helping “remove life’s filters.”
“It took everything away from me and brought me a sense of relaxation, release, comfort — a lightness,” he said. “I started doing it for free and then I realized how good it was for me.”
The king added: “I would say it’s one of the fundamental parts of my life that changed me.”
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Harry had written openly about his use of psychedelics in his book and wrote:
They didn’t just allow me to escape reality for a while, they let me redefine reality. Under the influence of these substances, I was able to let go of rigid prejudices and see that there was another world beyond my heavily filtered senses, a world just as real and doubly beautiful. … There was only truth.
The Duke of Sussex’s speech – which was held in California but not at his Montecito residence – was his first since it was confirmed that he and his wife Meghan Markle “were invited” to Frogmore Cottage, their British home on the grounds of Windsor, to vacate castle.
Although the impending eviction was not mentioned during the conversation, Harry didn’t shy away from any of Maté’s questions when the doctor started things off by asking if the prince felt like a victim.
“I certainly don’t see myself as a victim,” said the Duke of Sussex, adding that he was “really grateful to be able to share my story” and hope it would help others.
“I don’t do that and I’ve never looked for sympathy,” he said.
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During the fireside chat, Harry also opened up about feeling “a little different from the rest of my family” throughout his life and upbringing.
“I felt strange in that container,” he said. “I know my mother felt the same way. And so it makes sense to me. I felt like my body was in there but my head was out. And then sometimes it was the other way around.”
Regarding Harry’s life, Maté said he found that one of the central themes of Spare was the theme of deprivation. Harry wrote about wanting to hug his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, which was not allowed and was never done.
He also wrote about the rare moments when his father, Charles, or his brother, William, slapped him on the leg or shoulder, such as when his mother died and he returned from military service in Afghanistan.
While Maté said he didn’t support the war in Afghanistan, Harry shared an interesting perspective.
“One of the reasons why certainly so many people in the UK did not support our troops was that they assumed everyone who served was pro-war,” the king explained.
“But no you, once you sign up, you do as you’re told. So there were many of us who didn’t necessarily agree or disagree, but you did what you were trained to do. You have done what you were sent to do.”
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The Duke of Sussex’s conversation with Maté was his first since a first round of promotional interviews released around January 10 in support of the publication of his memoir.
Despite the incredible security surrounding the book, Spare was fully leaked five days before it went on sale when Spanish booksellers began distributing it. HuffPost’s Lee Moran was able to do this get the memoirs in Spain in a local shop.
Neither Kensington Palace nor Buckingham Palace have officially commented on the claims in the book.
More revelations from Prince Harry’s “Spare” memoir and media tour:
