Oprah and Prince Harry team up for series on mental health

A documentary series on mental health and emotional well-being co-created by Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, will air on AppleTV+ later this month.

“The Me You Can’t See,” which will feature both celebrities and non-celebrities alongside mental health professionals and experts, will premiere on May 21, Apple announced Monday.

Winfrey and Prince Harry will host the conversations "while opening up about their mental health journeys and struggles." The pair co-created and executive produced the series.

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, sat down with Winfrey for a wide-ranging, explosive interview that aired on CBS in March. He has previously opened up about mental health struggles he faced following the death of his mother Princess Diana in 1997.

The "high-profile guests," like Lady Gaga and Glenn Close, will be joined by "a wide range of people from across the globe living with the challenges of mental health issues and addressing their emotional well-being," according to Apple. "The series transcends culture, age, gender, and socioeconomic status to destigmatize a highly misunderstood subject and give hope to viewers who learn that they are not alone."

“We are born into different lives, brought up in different environments, and as a result are exposed to different experiences. But our shared experience is that we are all human,” Prince Harry said. “The majority of us carry some form of unresolved trauma, loss, or grief, which feels — and is — very personal. Yet the last year has shown us that we are all in this together, and my hope is that this series will show there is power in vulnerability, connection in empathy, and strength in honesty.”

Winfrey said that "now more than ever, there is an immediate need to replace the shame surrounding mental health with wisdom, compassion, and honesty. Our series aims to spark that global conversation.”

Also on Monday, Kensington Palace announced that Prince William and his wife, Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, would mark Mental Health Awareness Week, an initiative in its 21st year, which will run until Sunday.

William and Kate will be involved in events in partnership with groups that support children and young people with their mental health and will also host a radio program called "Mental Health Minute" on Friday. This year, the week will focus on how nature can help improve mental wellbeing.