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Princess Diana, left, sits next to her younger son Prince Harry during V-J Day celebrations in London in 1995
Harry revealed he turned to therapy after coming “close to a complete breakdown” over the loss.
And he told how he turned to boxing as a means of safely taking out his aggression and frustration.
The Prince — who insists he is now in a “good place” — spoke out in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.
Giving an account of conquering his demons, Harry told mental health journalist Bryony Gordon: “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.
He said he was close to a ‘complete breakdown on numerous occasions’
“I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and all sorts of lies and misconceptions and everything are coming to you from every angle.”
Prince Harry 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.
Harry added: “My way of dealing with it was sticking my head in the sand, refusing to ever think about my mum, because why would that help? “(I thought) it’s only going to make you sad, it’s not going to bring her back.
“So from an emotional side, I was like ‘right, don’t ever let your emotions be part of anything’.
“So I was a typical 20, 25, 28-year-old running around going ‘life is great’, or ‘life is fine’ and that was exactly it.”
Prince Harry lost his mother when he was just 12-years-old
He insisted he was lucky it was “only two years” before he discovered talking through his problems could save him.
He said: “During those years I took up boxing, because everyone was saying boxing is good for you and it’s a really good way of letting out aggression.
“And that really saved me because I was on the verge of punching someone, so being able to punch someone who had pads was certainly easier.”
Asked if he had ever seen a “shrink”, he said: “I’ve done that a couple of times, more than a couple of times, but it’s great.”
Diana, Princess of Wales with her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, at the piano in Kensington Palace
Prince Harry insisted his emotional problems were not a product of war — despite seeing combat in Afghanistan.
But he credited his recovery in part to his work with wounded and sick ex- servicemen at the personnel recovery unit, where he learned the value of talking.
He is now determined to help save others.
Harry said: “I know there is huge merit in talking about your issues and the only thing about keeping it quiet is that it’s only ever going to make it worse.”
He added: “It doesn’t matter whether you are a prince or a mother or a CEO of a company or a white van driver or a kid.
A young Prince Harry, with brother William and mother Diana
“It doesn’t matter who you are, mental health, mental fitness, relates to every single one of us and there’s only positives that come out of having a conversation and talking about it.”
Prince Harry has hinted before that he spent years blocking out the emotion of Diana's death.
But this is the first time he has said he sought professional help.
The revelation will be seen as a major boost for those suffering with mental health problems but too scared of the stigma to either talk to friends and family or a counsellor.
