Harry’s tell-all chat with James Corden
The prince speaks about ‘walking away’ from his family
‘It was destroying my mental health’
In his most revealing interview since leaving the royal family, Prince Harry has opened up about falling in love with Meghan, Zoom calls with Her Majesty the Queen, and even his reasons behind leaving the UK and royal life for good.
Last month, Harry was seen filming on an open-top bus in LA for The Late Late Show With James Corden, and the episode aired in the US last week (UK viewers can watch it on the show’s Youtube channel). As well as answering fun questions about his 22-month-old son Archie’s first word – “crocodile” apparently – and rapping the theme song to The Fresh Prince of Bel-air, Harry seemed happy to answer some more hard-hitting questions from his showbiz mate. When asked about “walking away” from his royal duties, Harry was quick to correct James. “It was never walking away,” he said. “It was stepping back, rather than stepping down. It was a really difficult environment, which I think a lot of people saw. We all know what the British press can be like, and it was destroying my mental health. I was like, ‘This is toxic.’ So, I did what any father or husband would do and thought, ‘I need to get my family out of here.’ But we never walked away. And as far as I’m concerned, whatever decisions are made on that side, I will never walk away.”
The 36 year old was clearly referring to the mutual decision that he and Meghan will no longer be officially working royal family members. But during the interview, he was keen to emphasise that his life would always be in service to the public, and that Meghan had “signed up” for the same. “My life is always going to be about public service, and Meghan signed up to that. The two of us enjoy doing that,” he added.
“Trying to bring some compassion and make people happy, and trying to change the world in any small way we can.”
Hinting further at the pressures of royal life, Harry admitted that he had watched the Netflix series The Crown and that he liked it because “they don’t pretend to be news, it’s fictional”, adding, “It gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle – what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else – what can come from that.”
In the more light-hearted
portions of the interview, Harry divulged that the Queen had bought Archie a waffle maker for Christmas. He joked that Archie now wakes up and demands waffles for breakfast. The Duke of Sussex spoke of family chats with his grandparents – Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip – revealing that while the Queen has quite a good grasp on the technology, Philip simply slams the laptop shut at the end of a call.
Harry also told James that he knew Meghan was The One on their second date. Admitting that being with a royal meant early dates have to take place in private, rather than out at dinners or with friends, he said, “We got to spend an enormous amount of time just the two of us. There were no distractions, and that was great. It was an amazing thing. We went from zero to 60 in the first two months.”
We also learned what the pair call each other, with Harry referring to his wife as “Meg” throughout the interview. At one point, James Corden Facetimed Meghan, who referred to her husband as “Haz”. Surprised, James teased the royal, “I didn’t know we were calling you Haz now?” To which he replied, “Well, you’re not my wife.” ■