Harry: Loyalty to Queen kept me from leaving Royal Family
PRINCE Harry has admitted he once ‘wanted out’ of the Royal Family but stayed out of loyalty to the Queen.
In a candid interview, the 32-year-old prince told how he decided to stay and ‘work out a role’ for himself.
His confession follows recent comments when he said he doubted any of the royals ‘wants to be king or queen’.
Harry’s turmoil contrasts with the carefree pose of his girlfriend Meghan Markle, left, in newly published images.
Taken before she met the prince, they show Miss Markle, who stars in TV drama Suits, looking relaxed as she stands in a blossoming garden wearing a skirt and heels while holding an unusual Jimmy Choo clutch in a photoshoot from 2014.
But, before Harry began dating the 35-year-old American actress, he struggled through his 20s and admitted he felt directionless after leaving the Army.
Speaking to Angela Levin in an article in The Mail on Sunday, the royal, who is fifth in line to the throne, said: ‘I spent many years kicking my heels and I didn’t want to grow up.’
Prince Harry, who was just 12 when his mother Princess Diana died, added: ‘I buried my head in the sand and let everything around me tear me to pieces.’
He said the ten years he spent in the Army – when he was ‘just Harry’ – was ‘the best escape I’ve ever had’, and that he felt ‘very resentful’ when it came to an end.
The royal even considered life as a commoner, admitting: ‘I felt I wanted out but then decided to stay in and work out a role for myself.’
He was motivated by a wish to help his grandmother, the Queen, and pursued charity work.
The prince, who in recent years has dedicated much of his time to good causes, including helping wounded veterans and raising awareness of mental health, said he and his brother, Prince William, ‘don’t want to be just a bunch of celebrities’. ‘ We are incredibly passionate with our charities and they have been chosen because they are on the path shown to me by our mother,’ he said.
He also expressed of his love for the monarchy, adding: ‘We want to make sure the monarchy lasts and are passionate about what it stands for.
‘We feel that the British public and the whole world needs institutions like this – but it can’t go on as it has done under the Queen. There will be changes and pressure to get them right.’
Prince Harry said he had no problem with dropping from third to the fifth in line to the throne, after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
‘The reason I am now fifth is because of my nephew and niece and I could never wish them away,’ he said. ‘They are the most amazing things ever.’ In recent interviews he has revealed his pain over losing his mother and at having to walk behind her coffin.
In 1997, the youngster was part of a funeral procession through the streets of London for Diana, Princess of Wales.
He said: ‘ My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television.
‘I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.’
‘I didn’t want to grow up’