Prince Harry on ayahuasca: grief relief is personal, not a universal protocol
Harry has described psychedelics as helpful in processing grief and trauma; the evidence supports caution and context, not casual use.
The Statement
I would never recommend people to do this recreationally.
Source: 60 Minutes interview reported by Forbes (60 Minutes interview).
Context
Harry's remarks were framed around grief, loss, trauma, and guided psychedelic use — specifically the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997 and the prolonged psychological impact of growing up in public mourning. In his memoir Spare (2023) and in the Anderson Cooper 60 Minutes interview, he described ayahuasca and psilocybin as part of a broader therapeutic journey that also included conventional therapy. He explicitly cautioned against recreational use, framing his experiences as guided, intentional, and embedded in ongoing mental-health support. The cultural impact was significant: a senior member of the British royal family openly discussing Schedule I substances shifted media coverage of psychedelic therapy toward mainstream legitimacy, though it also drew criticism from addiction specialists who worried about normalizing unregulated psychedelic use without adequate safety context.
What The Evidence Shows
Ayahuasca research is less mature than psilocybin or MDMA-assisted therapy research for trauma-related conditions. As of 2026, no randomized controlled trial of ayahuasca for PTSD has been completed, though observational studies and a small open-label trial by Palhano-Fontes et al. (2019) showed signals for treatment-resistant depression. The pharmacology is complex: ayahuasca combines DMT with MAO inhibitors (harmine, harmaline), creating serious interaction risks with SSRIs, SNRIs, tramadol, and other serotonergic medications — a combination that can trigger serotonin syndrome. Retreat settings vary widely in medical screening, and the absence of standardized dosing means experiences range from therapeutic to destabilizing. By contrast, MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD completed Phase III trials under MAPS with structured protocols, though the FDA declined the August 2024 NDA citing trial-design concerns. The broader evidence picture: psychedelics may help some people process grief and trauma under supported conditions, but the specific substance, dose, setting, screening, and integration support all matter more than the celebrity endorsement suggests.
Where It Lands
Psychedelic experiences can feel helpful for grief or trauma.
Subjective reports of benefit are consistent across survey data and qualitative research. Clinical trials of psilocybin for cancer-related existential distress (Griffiths et al. 2016, Ross et al. 2016) showed sustained reductions in anxiety and depression. However, felt benefit is not the same as clinical efficacy, and grief is not a single diagnostic category — responses vary by individual, substance, dose, and support.
Ayahuasca is an established PTSD treatment.
No completed RCT of ayahuasca for PTSD exists as of 2026. Observational studies among veterans and in ceremonial contexts report positive outcomes, but these lack controls for expectancy, placebo, and selection bias. The most advanced psychedelic PTSD research has used MDMA, not ayahuasca, and even that program did not receive FDA approval on its first submission.
Psychedelics should only be used in guided, intentional settings.
Every major clinical trial protocol includes medical screening, preparation sessions, trained facilitators during dosing, and integration therapy afterward. Harry's framing that these substances should not be used recreationally is consistent with how researchers structure safe and effective use.
Bottom Line
Harry's caution is the most evidence-aligned part of his public statements: he repeatedly emphasized that psychedelics should not be used recreationally and that his experiences were guided and intentional. That framing tracks with what clinical research supports — set, setting, screening, and integration are the strongest non-drug predictors of outcome. Where the public narrative risks running ahead of the evidence is in conflating one person's positive experience with a treatment recommendation. Ayahuasca is not an approved therapy for grief or PTSD, and the absence of standardized protocols, dosing, and safety screening in most retreat contexts means the gap between the best-case and worst-case outcome is wide.
Editorial commentary. Not medical or legal advice. Not endorsed by or affiliated with Prince Harry.