Prince Harry is reportedly still battling unresolved trauma from his youth, according to a former spiritual mentor who knew him during his teenage years.
Canon Angela Tilby, an Anglican priest who once served as Harry’s guide during his time at Eton College, expressed her deep concern for the Duke of Sussex in a reflective column for Church Times.
“I feel sorrow for the young red-haired boy I used to preach to,” she wrote, adding, “He seems like a good man, but he hasn’t yet found peace from the pain that still lingers in his mind.”
Tilby believes Harry’s emotional wounds stem largely from the early loss of his mother, Princess Diana. One of the most haunting moments, she recalled, was when young Harry was made to walk behind Diana’s coffin during her funeral — an image etched into global memory.
While acknowledging that both Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have faced excessive and often harsh public scrutiny, Tilby suggested that some of the Duke’s current challenges may be self-inflicted.
She pointed to the release of his memoir, Spare, as a moment that deepened the rift between him and his royal relatives, stating it “intensified his isolation from the family.”
Her comments follow Harry’s recent interview with the BBC, which came after a high-profile legal defeat in the UK. The interview and his ongoing legal issues have once again placed the royal figure in the media spotlight.
Though Prince Harry continues to live life on his own terms, voices from his past — like Tilby’s — highlight the emotional burdens he still seems to carry.
