For more than decade now, two of the causes that Prince Harry has dedicated the most time to have been working with veterans and advocating for mental health. So, when Movember, the leading global men’s health nonprofit, invited him to participate in a panel discussion about the health crisis facing American men, he jumped at the opportunity.
The Duke of Sussex made an unannounced appearance at the Movember reception on Oct. 8 in New York City, where the organization unveiled “The Real Face of Men’s Health: USA,”, a new report from the Movember Institute of Men’s Health that combines hard data with human stories to reveal what’s killing men—and why so many never ask for help and why a majority (53%) die prematurely, according to a release shared on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s official website, among other places.
At the event, journalist Brooke Baldwin moderated a conversation between Prince Harry and leading researchers including Zac Seidler, Movember’s Global Director of Men’s Health Research, and Calvin Abbasi of the Andron Project. The panel’s conversation dug into some of the unavoidable realities highlighted by the report—”that American men are dying younger, struggling more, and suffering in silence at rates that demand urgent attention,” as the event’s release explains.
Drawing on his own experiences connecting with men across many different communities, Harry discussed a troubling pattern of isolation that men from all walks of life seem to experience, rooted in a shared-but-silent belief that no one else will understand what they’re going through—or that discussing it at all is taboo.
“When I speak to men, the same struggles keep coming up, which tells me that the weight they carry isn’t uncommon,” he explained. “The biggest barrier is the belief that no one will understand. Loneliness convinces you you’re the only one, which is rarely true.”
Harry pointed to his work through the Invictus Games and his conversations with veterans as particularly illuminating when it comes to these issues—and how incredibly important it is for men to bring them out of the shadows.
“I found myself speaking to many veterans and sitting down with them I realized the silence is killing people,” he said, adding, “Stamping out the stigma globally, we’ve come a long way. Access to therapy is still a massive problem.”
This was a repeated theme of the conversation: connection saves lives.
“When men hear ‘I’ve been there too,’ walls begin to crack,” the recap of the event shared on Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s website explained. “The challenge now is creating more spaces—online and offline—where those conversations can happen, where seeking help is normalized, and where the definition of strength expands to include emotional honesty and asking for support.”
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