Prince Harry has said seeing his children “at peace with each other” gives him immense joy, even as he remains estranged from his brother, the Prince of Wales.
The Duke of Sussex, 42, became visibly emotional while discussing a photograph of his son, Prince Archie, seven, and daughter, Princess Lilibet, five, during an interview with American neuroscientist Dr Mary-Frances O’Connor.
The image showed the siblings strolling barefoot along a beach. Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, shared it on Instagram in May to celebrate Archie’s seventh birthday.
Harry, who has not spoken to Prince William since Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022, said he took the photograph “just before” Archie’s birthday. Seeing his son and daughter together in nature, he added, “fills my heart.”
He said he was “super happy” that Archie and Lilibet are “healthy, beautiful, amusing [and] very funny kids,” while describing parenthood as an “emotional rollercoaster.”
“Becoming a father is an emotional rollercoaster,” the prince said. “I wish I’d known how hard being a father was going to be. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Reflecting on what he would tell his younger self about raising children, Harry said: “Hold on tight, because it’s going to be one hell of a ride.”
He spoke in a video for the American education platform MasterClass, in an episode titled Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss, Hello! magazine reported.
The beach photograph showed Archie and Lilibet walking barefoot together and was posted by Meghan Markle on Instagram in May for Archie’s seventh birthday.
Harry discussed fatherhood in a MasterClass video titled Redefining Grief: Building Resilience Through Loss.
In the same episode, Harry said he felt depressed and “useless” after Megxit. He also revealed that he now avoids spending more than ten days away from Meghan and their children.
The Duke claimed his life within the Royal Family prevented him from properly processing the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and said his official responsibilities sometimes prompted panic attacks.
Harry said that dressing for royal engagements in a shirt and tie could leave him feeling as if he were being strangled or suffocated.
“You would think I had the best help in the world. I’m a prince, for God’s sake, but I was still grieving and didn’t have any place to put those feelings,” he said, describing emotions he had carried for “15 or 20 years.”
Although he said he had found happiness with Meghan, Harry revealed that he “slipped into depression” after the couple stepped back from royal life and left Britain in 2020.
“We moved to Canada to get some space away from everything and simply think,” he said. “Within two or three days of leaving that stressful environment, I experienced an adrenaline crash unlike anything I’d ever felt before.
“It was as though I needed stress for my brain to function. I became useless around the house. I slipped into depression for about two weeks and felt like I couldn’t function without adrenaline.”
Six years after Megxit, Harry and Meghan are raising their two children, Archie and Lilibet, and have returned to the UK. The children have begun attending school in the Cotswolds.
Harry said he follows a strict “ten-day” rule to safeguard his wellbeing. “The biggest factor for me is the energy, joy and happiness I get from being with my family, especially our children, and from being on the ground doing my work,” he said.
“The key to maintaining that balance is spending no more than ten days away from my wife and kids.”
‘It’s about balancing my work and sense of purpose with being a dad and a husband.’
The Duke of Sussex, 41, was visibly moved as he reacted to a photograph of his son, Prince Archie, seven, and daughter, Princess Lilibet, five, during an interview with American neuroscientist Dr Mary-Frances O’Connor
The Duke has previously said he had to ‘cleanse’ himself of the past before having children and opened up about the ‘disconnection’ he felt towards Archie while Meghan was pregnant.
Speaking at an event about fatherhood in Melbourne during the Sussexes’ quasi-royal tour of Australia in April, Harry admitted ‘certainly I felt a disconnection because my wife was the one creating life, and I was there to witness it’.
He added: ‘I think for many guys, you try to think about what service can I provide at this point, because my work here is done to some extent.
‘And then when it comes back around again, I think the biggest tip that I was given, actually, from my therapist in the UK, was just be aware of how you feel once the baby is born.
‘Every single time I went to work, and I came back – if I was stressed, the moment that I held Archie, he would start crying.’
He added: ‘Fatherhood is the most important and sort of transformational role that a guy can ever, can ever move into.’
It comes after Meghan shared a new clip of Archie and Lilibet as they settled into life in the English countryside on the same day that she was unveiled as the new face of a Los Angeles charity supporting single mothers.
The Duchess, 45, posted a 20-second clip of her two children riding their scooters down a long country lane to her Instagram yesterday.
Archie and Lilibet wore matching blue and pink backpacks for the wholesome family outing, with their black labrador Pula also in attendance.
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The children were seen stopping to watch in wonder as a large herd of deer suddenly galloped across their path just metres ahead.
The family’s beloved black Labrador Pula also made an appearance in the video set to the song My Girl by The Temptations.
On Sunday, it was revealed that the Duchess has partnered with Moms Offering More (MOM) on a ‘special edition’ cream and chocolate-brown sweatshirt.
The jumper, which is being sold for £76 (US$100), is embroidered with the words ‘It’s the little things’ on the back and sleeve, presumably chosen by Meghan.
The charity, which is supported by the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation and helps provide single mothers with food security, childcare and financial assistance, announced the collaboration on Instagram on Sunday.
It shared a black-and-white photo of the Duchess posing in the limited-edition sweatshirt under a tree with her back to the camera.
Yesterday the Duchess shared footage of their children riding scooters through a grand estate with deer in front
Meghan shared a photo of her modelling the limited edition sweatshirt, which she paired with a blue and white pinstripe shirt and a chunky silver ring (pictured). It has sold out
Meghan shared another photo of her modelling the jumper, which she paired with a blue and white pinstripe shirt and her fitness tracker, the Oura ring.
She captioned the photo: ‘Small acts of care can make a big difference for parents, for caregivers, for moms.
‘This International Day of the Girl, I’m proud of the way we are showing up, including with our Archewell Philanthropies collaboration with @momsofferingmore supporting families alongside @allianceofmoms and @allianceforchildrensrights.
‘As Moms Offering More says: ‘It’s the little things.’ And all of those ‘little things’ ladder up to big support.’
The initiative, which is led by founder Kasondra Herrendorf-Cohen, is driven by a collective of women known as the ‘MOM Army’.
It helps families facing severe economic challenges across the US and Canada by providing ‘wrap-around services’ to organisations that support single mothers.
Last week, the Duchess was pictured in a warm embrace with Malala Yousafzai after the pair enjoyed afternoon tea at Claridge’s in London last week.
She announced on Sunday, International Day of the Girl, that all net profits from her As Ever teas and jams would be donated to the Malala Fund for one day only.
Meghan and Malala shared a joint statement on Instagram to announce the partnership alongside two photos of the women enjoying afternoon tea.
In one of the photos, the pair are seen beaming at the camera before an array of freshly-baked cakes, and tightly holding hands in the other.
The joint statement read: ‘When we support the girls of today, we empower the women of tomorrow. Access to education is the key to unlocking this.’ – Meghan, Duchess of Sussex & Malala Yousafzai.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will make their first joint appearance since moving back to the UK as ‘private citizens’ later this week, embarking on a series of unofficial quasi-royal engagements in the East Midlands.
Following Meghan’s Claridge’s lunch with Malala, the couple will appear together at several charity events in Nottingham, including at a community food project established in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The couple will also visit the Himmah food bank alongside the Hubb Community Kitchen and Epic Partners, a charity that offers sports mentoring for children aged four to 18.
Hubb, which was established after the Grenfell Tower fire that claimed 72 lives in June 2017, has long been a passion project for Meghan. She wrote the foreword to its 2018 cookbook, Together.
Despite becoming increasingly active in the UK, including through a number of visits to London, the couple have yet to meet King Charles and remain estranged from the Prince and Princess of Wales.
One source claimed the Sussexes have taken their Christmas plans into their own hands because they ‘know they’re not invited’ to Sandringham.
It would be ‘too difficult and awkward’ to spend Christmas with the Royal Family, a friend said.
‘They won’t be having Christmas with the Royal Family. How could that even work? They know it would be too awkward and too difficult. They also know they’re not going to be invited, and they’re not waiting for an invitation.
‘For Thanksgiving and Christmas, they will do whatever Doria wants to do. They would love her to come over to the UK and spend it with them here, but they will be wherever she wants to be.’
The friend added: ‘He [Harry] has not yet seen the King, who is still in Scotland, but it will happen.’
The couple are expected to spend the festive period with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, 70, who lives less than a two-hour drive from their Montecito home.