Prince Harry has given a wide-ranging interview to British chat show host James Corden, in which he reveals why he and his wife Meghan made the decision to step back from royal duties, admits that he has watched Netflix hit The Crown, and even reveals son Archie’s adorable first word.
Harry, Duke of Sussex and youngest son of Prince Charles, appeared on James’s The Late Late Late Show, which saw the pair tour LA on an open air bus. During the chat, Harry stated that he left the UK because the press was ‘toxic’ and was ‘destroying’ his mental health. The interview comes before the Oprah Winfrey interview with Meghan lands in March.
‘I did not walk away’, he said, calling it ‘a really difficult environment, as I think a lot of people saw. We all know what the British press can be like. And it was destroying my mental health. This is toxic. So I did what any husband and father would do. I need to get my family out of here. But we never walked away - and as far as I'm concerned, what decisions are made on that side - I will never walk away.’
You can watch the interview here:
Filmed before the announcement that Harry and Meghan - the former actress and Suits star - would lose their royal patronages, this suggests that this was far from a choice on their part.
Nevertheless, Harry made it clear that ‘I will always be contributing - my life is public service - so wherever I am in the world it is going to be the same thing.’
Harry also seemed to suggest that he had watched The Crown, even saying that he hopes Damian Lewis will play him in a future series. ‘They don't pretend to be news - it's fictional,’ he said, referencing calls for disclaimers when the fourth series launched last year. ‘But it's loosely based on the truth. Of course it's not strictly accurate, but it gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle - the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else - what can come from that. I'm way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family, or my wife or myself. Because it's the difference between fiction - take it how you will - but this is being reported on as fact because you're supposedly news. I have a real issue with that.’
Harry described how he had found it difficult to explore LA due to lockdown, but revealed some insights on parenting his young son Archie and even what the Queen bought him for Christmas.
‘My grandmother asked us what Archie wanted for Christmas, and Meg said a waffle-maker. So she sent a waffle-maker for Archie!’ He called Archie ‘hysterical’, and said his first word was ‘crocodile’. Meghan, making a cameo via FaceTime, also called Harry 'Haz', her personal nickname for her husband.
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