Royals

Prince Harry Says Wife Meghan Markle 'Saved Me': 'I Was Stuck in This World'

The Duke of Sussex appeared in a virtual book event with Dr. Gabor Maté, an expert specializing in trauma

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Published on March 4, 2023 01:27 PM

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 18: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive at the United Nations Headquarters on July 18, 2022 in New York City. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex is the keynote speaker during the United Nations General assembly to mark the observance of Nelson Mandela International Day where the 2020 U.N. Nelson Mandela Prize will be awarded to Mrs. Marianna Vardinogiannis of Greece and Dr. Morissanda Kouyaté of Guinea. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) — Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty

Prince Harry is opening up about how his wife Meghan Markle changed his life.

On Saturday, the Duke of Sussex, 38, appeared in a virtual book event with Dr. Gabor Maté, an expert specializing in trauma, addiction, stress and childhood development, to discuss the prince's groundbreaking memoir, Spare.

During the intimate conversation, Harry shared how Meghan "saved" him from himself.

"My wife saved me. I was stuck in this world, and she was from a different world and helped draw me out of that," the Duke of Sussex said. "But none of the elements of my life now would have been possible without me seeing it for myself."

"My partner is an exceptional human being and I'm eternally grateful for the wisdom and the space that she has been able to give me," he continued.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visit Admiralty House on October 16, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are on their official 16-day Autumn tour visiting cities in Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand. — Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage

Harry, who lives in California with Meghan and their children Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 21 months, previously shared how his wife was the one who inspired him to pursue therapy more seriously.

"It was meeting and being with Meghan, I knew that if I didn't do therapy and fix myself, that I was going to lose this woman who I could see spending the rest of my life with," he said in 2021.

During Saturday's livestream event, Harry also said that he had a "crash course" in racism since meeting Meghan.

"I think what people perhaps don't understand is the pain that it causes to an individual is huge, but then the pain that it causes to society is immense," he said.

SPARE, THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED MEMOIR OF PRINCE HARRY, THE DUKE OF SUSSEX, TO BE PUBLISHED GLOBALLY ON JANUARY 10, 2023, BY PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE — 'Spare' cover. PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE

Seated across from each other before a crackling fireplace, the Duke of Sussex and Maté, author of The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture, also discussed living with loss and the importance of personal healing. Harry brought up how he related to his mother Princess Diana over feelings of not fitting in with the rest of the royal family.

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"Certainly throughout my life, throughout my younger years, I always felt slightly different to the rest of my family," he said. "I felt strange being in this container, and I know that my mum felt the same. It makes sense to me — it didn't make sense at the time — I felt as though my body was in there, but my head was out, but sometimes it was vice-versa.

"The times that I ventured towards being myself, being my authentic true self, whether it was through media or family or whatever it was, it was almost like, 'Don't be yourself, come back to what you're expected to be,' if that makes sense."