Members of the Royal Family have reportedly used homeopathy for their ailments for years — but it’s not the only alternative remedy they’ve favoured.
Helen Foster asked experts to assess the more unusual therapies that have a royal seal of approval.
Prince Harry: EMDRIn his recent documentary, The Me You Can’t See, Prince Harry was seen having a session of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR), which helps people recover from trauma — in Harry’s case, feelings associated with the death of his mother, Princess Diana.
Harry said EMDR ‘cleans my hard drive’, and that he feels a sense of calmness and strength afterwards.
EMDR involves the patient recalling the traumatic incident while moving their eyes from side to side.
In his recent documentary, The Me You Can’t See, Prince Harry was seen having a session of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR)
It’s not clear precisely how it works, but it may distract the brain, stopping it becoming overwhelmed, or change the negative way you think about a traumatic experience, the NHS says.
On the NHS? Yes, in some areas. Ask your GP.
Cost: £60 to £120 per hour.
Expert verdict: ‘EMDR aims to change the way patients think about a traumatic experience, so it turns into a bad memory rather than something that overwhelms them,’ says Dr Mark McFetridge, a clinical psychologist at York St John University.
‘Eye movement gives the brain a task that keeps part of it rooted in the present, which can prevent the memory becoming overwhelming.
‘A 2020 review in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology analysed 114 studies and concluded that there is robust evidence to show EMDR could help people overcome post-traumatic stress disorder.
‘But the success of the treatment depends on the relationship with the therapist, as you have to feel safe to release and reprocess the memories.’
Prince Charles: YogaPrince Charles is a fan of yoga, and speaking at a conference this year, he said: ‘By its nature, yoga is an accessible practice which provides practitioners with ways to manage stress, build resilience and promote healing.’
On the NHS? The Yoga4Health ten-week course is part of the social prescribing initiative which allows doctors to refer patients for non-clinical treatments to improve health and wellbeing. Speak to your GP.
Cost: From £10 per class.
Expert verdict: ‘Yoga helps with health and immunity because of its role in regulating stress,’ says Dr Jenna Macciochi, a lecturer in immunology at the University of Sussex.
‘When we are stressed, our immune system fires up in case it needs to protect us from damage — and that raises our levels of inflammation, which has been associated with many health problems.
‘In yoga, mental and physical techniques combine to switch on the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system; this switches off our fight-or-flight response and helps the immune system stand down.’
Prince Charles is a fan of yoga, and speaking at a conference this year, he said: ‘By its nature, yoga is an accessible practice which provides practitioners with ways to manage stress, build resilience and promote healing'
Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, used hypnobirthing during childbirth, telling a podcast last year that ‘I saw the power of it — the meditation and the deep breathing that they teach you — when I was sick, and I realised that this was something that I could take control of during labour’
Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, used hypnobirthing during childbirth, telling a podcast last year that ‘I saw the power of it — the meditation and the deep breathing that they teach you — when I was sick, and I realised that this was something that I could take control of during labour’.
The Hypnobirthing Association (which works with the Royal College of Midwives) says the technique ‘uses the power of positive language, deep relaxation, breathing techniques, visualisation and affirmative positive thinking to reduce stress and fear, and, as a result, reduce pain’.
On the NHS? Yes, in some areas. Ask your midwife or GP.
Cost: Online videos offer basic hypnobirthing for free. Private courses can cost from £200 for ten hours.
Expert verdict: ‘There is evidence that pain is aggravated through fear,’ says Alessandra D’Angelo, quality and standards adviser at the Royal College of Midwives. ‘Hypnobirthing can reduce this significantly by making you feel more relaxed and in control during birth.’
A 2016 Cochrane review [by the authoritative research organisation] of nine trials of 2,954 women who used hypnobirthing, found they required less pain relief (such as gas and air).
However, not everyone can get into the hypnobirthing state during labour and it’s important to find ‘a competent practitioner’, says Alessandra D’Angelo. To find reputable practitioners visit kghypnobirthing.com, which works with the NHS.
Duchess of Cornwall: Ayurveda
Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, has been to a number of Ayurvedic spas to help her relax, and in 2012 she stayed at Soukya, a spa in Bangalore in India that uses Ayurveda, reportedly to find a solution for recurrent sinusitis
Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, has been to a number of Ayurvedic spas to help her relax, and in 2012 she stayed at Soukya, a spa in Bangalore in India that uses Ayurveda, reportedly to find a solution for recurrent sinusitis. She also took Prince Charles there in 2019.
One of the principles of Ayurveda, which originates in India, is health is kept in balance by three elements — called doshas — and that sinusitis occurs when there is an imbalance of two of them — kapha (water) and vata (air).
Treatments to rebalance these and cure sinusitis include rinsing the nose with salt water, hot oil on the forehead and steam inhalation.
