'He likes to be called Harry,' says prince's new boss at BetterUp

Prince Harry's new boss at San Francisco-based mental health start-up BetterUp said on Wednesday that the new British royal hire would be known in the office simply as "Harry."

"In the workplace, he likes to be called Harry. He's a colleague, he's a partner, and so we address him as Harry," said Chief Executive Alexi Robichaux.

BetterUp, which provides app-based employee coaching and mental health assistance, said on Tuesday that Harry was appointed as the company's first chief impact officer.

Robichaux said he met Harry, Queen Elizabeth's grandson, through a mutual friend in late 2020, and talked about how to encourage mental wellbeing.

"Through a series of conversations over months, (we) really had a lot of shared energy and enthusiasm for how it could be really awesome to find a way to work together and advance the shared mission," he said.

Harry has spoken publicly about his struggles following the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a car crash in 1997 when he was 12 years old. Earlier this month, his wife, Meghan, told TV interviewer Oprah Winfrey that her life inside the royal family had pushed her to the brink of suicide.

As well as being an executive, Prince Harry said in a blog post that he was also a user of the service. Robichaux said he and the coach he was paired with are still working together.

As for how much Prince Harry is being paid in his new position, Robichaux declined to say.

"As a private company, you can imagine we don't disclose compensation information of any of our folks. But I think it's fair to say he's deeply invested in the success of BetterUp," he said.