Prince Harry has revealed he first wanted to quit the royal family in his early twenties because of what it did to his late mother, Princess Diana.
The topic was one of many the Duke of Sussex discussed in a wide-ranging new interview on the Armchair Expert podcast.
During the 90-minute segment, Harry, 36, said he used to treat his royal duties like a job and would grin and bear it.
I was in my early twenties and I was thinking I dont want this job, I dont want to be here. I dont want to be doing this, he said.
Look what it did to my mum, how am I ever going to settle down and have a wife and family when I know its going to happen again?
File image of Prince Harry speaking at an event in California. Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Global Citizen
Ive seen behind the curtain, Ive seen the business model and seen how this whole thing works and I dont want to be part of this.
Harry explained he moved to the United States with his family – wife, Meghan, and their son, Archie – to break the cycle of pain because he felt he needed to change that for my own kids.
Prince Harry with mum Diana in 1986. Credit: Getty
Now living in California, he said he feels much more comfortable and can now lift his head.
I feel different, my shoulders have dropped, so have (Meghans), you can walk around feeling a little bit more free, he said.
I can take Archie on the back of my bicycle, I would never have had the chance to do that.
Harry has been accused of throwing his family under the bus by also suggesting his father, Prince Charles, had suffered because of his upbringing by the Queen and Prince Philip, and that his father treated me the way he was treated.
Its something the prince called, genetic pain.
I dont think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody, but certainly when it comes to parenting, if Ive experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, Im going to make sure I break that cycle so that I dont pass it on, basically, Harry said.
Its a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on anyway so we as parents should be doing the most we can to try and say you know what, that happened to me, Im going to make sure that doesnt happen to you.
Prince Charles and his son Prince Harry. Credit: Matt Dunham/AP
And here I am, I moved my whole family to the US, that wasnt the plan but sometimes youve got make decisions and put your family first and put your mental health first.
Prince Harry was appearing on the podcast to promote his new Apple TV+ mental health series with Oprah Winfrey, The Me You Cant See, which premieres on Friday 22 May.
