Prince Harry is speaking candidly about his relationship with his father, Prince Charles.
The Duke of Sussex first opened up about how strained things were between them during his tell-all interview with Oprah earlier this year, and in a new episode of Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, admitted there has been a lot of "pain and suffering" within their family.
"He treated me the way he was treated," Harry said, appearing to reference reports that things between Charles and his own parents, Queen Elizabeth II and the late Prince Philip, were equally rocky.
It has been widely believed that Harry and Charles clashed when Harry announced that he and his wife Meghan Markle would step back from their royal duties. However, during his interview with Shepard, Harry admitted things were troubled between him and his father for several years, and he first considered leaving the royal lifestyle in his 20s.
During the interview, Harry also spoke about the hardships his mother, Princess Diana, faced as a royal.
"It’s a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on anyway," he said. "So we as parents should be doing the most we can to try and say, ‘You know what? That happened to me, I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen to you.'"
Now Harry, who shares 2-year-old son Archie with Markle and is expecting to welcome their daughter into the world soon, said he has done reflection and is now hoping to "break the cycle."
"I never saw it, I never knew about it, and then suddenly I started to piece it together and go, ‘OK, so this is where he went to school, this is what happened, I know this about his life, I also know that is connected to his parents so that means he’s treated me the way he was treated, so how can I change that for my own kids?'" he said.
Harry further revealed that, although the plan was not to move his family to the U.S., he needed to make decisions that put his family, and his mental health, first.
"So living here now I can actually lift my head and I feel different," he said. "My shoulders have dropped, so have hers, you can walk around feeling a little bit more free, I can take Archie on the back of my bicycle, I would never have had the chance to do that."
Last month Harry returned to the U.K. to attend Philip’s funeral and, although he reconnected with his brother, Prince William, he reportedly barely spent any time with Charles. Sources later revealed to Page Six that the communication Harry and Charles had was a three-way talk with William. They did not have any "one-on-one" chats.
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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