The Duke of Sussex has today announced a partnership with Oprah Winfrey as co-creators and executive producers of a forthcoming mental health documentary series for Apple.
Prince Harry, 34, has previously spoken out about battling ‘numerous breakdowns’ while coming to terms with mother Diana’s death, and Oprah, 65, revealed that he jumped at the chance to get involved about a project that is so close to his heart.
The multi-part documentary series, which the pair has been working on for ‘several months’ during a number of ‘secret meetings in London’, will focus on both mental illness and mental wellness, and aims to inspire viewers to have an honest conversation about the challenges they face.
This commitment builds on Harry’s long-standing work on issues and initiatives regarding mental health, and has seen him share his personal experience and advocate for those who silently suffer.
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The Duke of Sussex today announced a partnership with Oprah, as co-creators and executive producers of a mental health documentary series for Apple. Harry is seen in London this month
Excited: Oprah discussed the partnership during an interview on CBS This Morning, which took place in New York on Wednesday, revealing that she pitched the idea to Prince Harry
In 2017, together with The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Harry, launched Heads Together, a mental health initiative spearheaded by The Royal Foundation.
The Duke of Sussex said today: ‘I am incredibly proud to be working alongside Oprah on this vital series which we have been developing together for several months.
‘I truly believe that good mental health – mental fitness – is the key to powerful leadership, productive communities and a purpose-driven self.
‘It is a huge responsibility to get this right as we bring you the facts, the science and the awareness of a subject that is so relevant during these times.
‘Our hope is that this series will be positive, enlightening and inclusive – sharing global stories of unparalleled human spirit fighting back from the darkest places, and the opportunity for us to understand ourselves and those around us better.’
There are reportedly plans for Harry to ‘appear on camera’, though it hasn’t been decided whether he will be interviewed by the chat show host.
The Sussex Royal Instagram account confirmed the news in a post today, revealing they were excited to announce the collaboration.
And in an interview with CBS in New York on Wednesday morning, Oprah revealed exactly how the project came about, explaining that she actually pitched the idea to Prince Harry during a discussion about global issues.
‘I asked [Prince Harry] the question, “What do you think are the most important issues facing the world right now?” and he said there are two,’ Oprah revealed.
Oprah was a guest at Harry and Meghan’s wedding at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle last May, and she is said to have formed a friendship with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland
‘He said climate change and mental wellness, mental fitness and mental health.’
She went on: ‘As you know, he’s spoken about his own issues and what he went through after his mother died and how being able to talk about it has benefited him.
‘So it’s a passion of his and, at the end of the conversation, I said, “Oh, I’m going to be doing this thing with Apple. It’s a big concern of mine too and I want to try to erase the stigma,” and he said at the end of the conversation, “If there’s anything I can do to help.”‘
It was then that Oprah decided to pitch the idea of Harry partnering with her on the Apple project, with the TV titan revealing that, since signing on, the royal has been incredibly involved in building the series.
‘He’s co-creating and executive producing,’ she explained. ‘We’ve had several meetings, secret meetings in London. I’ve flown there with the crew, sitting in sessions, talking about the directions we’re going to take.’
‘Our hope is it will have an impact on reducing the stigma and allow people to know that they’re not alone and allowing people to speak up for it and identify with it.’
Oprah was a guest at Harry and Meghan’s wedding at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle last May, and has also formed a friendship with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland.
The Sussex Royal Instagram account confirmed the news in a post today, revealing they were excited to announce the collaboration
Harry has previously opened up about his own battle with depression, revealing that he ‘very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions’. Brother William, pictured with Harry last May, urged him to speak to someone
In April 2018, just weeks before the royal wedding, Oprah and Doria, 62, spent the afternoon together at Oprah’s $88 million ‘Promised Land’ mansion in Santa Barbara bonding, doing yoga, and eating kumquats from her garden.
Oprah later shared that the pair had eaten a meal together and snacked on a dessert made from kumquats freshly picked from Oprah’s garden.
‘She said, “I love kumquats,” and I said, “I have a kumquat tree!”‘ Oprah detailed in June 2018, while promoting a new TV series.
The TV legend has also formed a close bond with Meghan herself, and praised the royal warmly during her CBS This Morning interview on Wednesday, saying that she is ‘not only everything that we perceive of her as being – graceful and dynamic in holding that position – but she just has a wonderful, warm, giving, loving heart.’
Oprah added that Meghan does not read any press about herself, saying: ‘She actually does not read anything, which I find, you know remarkable.
‘I think that’s remarkable in spite of all that’s going on, she doesn’t read anything.’
However, despite Oprah’s relationship with the royal, the Duchess of Sussex, who is due to give birth to the couple’s first child in the coming weeks, is not thought to be involved in the project.
Harry has spent many years working with veterans across the world with the Invictus Games Foundation and the Endeavour Fund, and convened the top UK military service charities to work together.
Oprah attended the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, seen last May, and is friends with the couple
He continues to work with communities throughout the UK and young people across the Commonwealth, to break the stigma surrounding mental illness and broaden the conversation of mental wellness.
Harry has previously opened up about his own battle with depression, revealing that he was ‘very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions’.
Speaking last year, he said: ‘I started to have conversations and actually all of a sudden this grief that I have never processed started to come to the forefront and I was like, there is actually a lo of stuff here that I need to deal with.
‘For me personally, my brother, you know, bless him, was a huge support to me.
‘He kept saying ‘This is not right, this is not normal, you need to talk to someone’.
In 2017, Harry, whose mother passed away when he was just 12, gave a candid interview on Bryony Gordon’s Mad World podcast.
He said: ‘I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well.
‘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.’