The Duke of Sussex says he never wanted to walk away from royal life, just step back. Prince Harry’s latest revelations on what prompted him and the Duchess of Sussex to move away from their roles as senior royals came in an interview he recorded for the Late, Late Show with James Corden several weeks ago.
Speaking to the British born TV star on top of an open double decker bus, Harry said that the couple’s announcement in January 2020 that they wanted to change their roles as senior royals was ‘never walking away, it was stepping back rather than stepping down”. And he added that, whatever happens in the future, “my life is public service so wherever I am in the world it’s going to be the same thing.”
The Duke of Sussex recorded this interview before the announcement on February 19th 2021 that the couple wouldn’t be returning to their roles as senior royals and that all their royal patronages and honorary military titles would be handed back.
Prince Harry explained why he and Meghan had moved away from Britain, saying ‘’ We all know what the British press could be like, and it was destroying my mental health, I was like this is toxic. So I did what any husband and what any father would do is like, I need to get my family out of here.’’
There were lighter touches to the interview, too, with Harry talking happily about his son, Archie, and revealing that the Queen had sent her great-grandson a waffle maker as a Christmas present and that the seventh in line to the throne’s first word was ”crocodile”.
The Duke of Sussex was served afternoon tea on the bus and took part in an assault course with James Corden. And Meghan made an appearance as well. As her husband accompanied the TV host to the house where the Fresh Prince of Bel Air was filmed, she took a video call in which James Corden told her that she and Harry should buy the house, with the Duchess replying that they had done enough moving.
The full interview was shown on The Late, Late Show on February 26th 2021.
