His new reality. Prince Harry opened up about missing friends and family members after relocating to the United States and stepping down from his duties as a senior royal.
“I miss the weird family gatherings when we’re all sort of brought together under one roof for, you know, certain times of the year — that I miss. Being part of the institution meant that I was in the U.K. So, I miss the U.K. [and] I miss my friends,” Harry, 38, shared during episode 6 of his Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, which aired on Thursday, December 15.
The Duke of Sussex continued: “I’ve lost a few friends in this process as well. … I mean, I came [to California] because I was changed. I changed to the point that I’d outgrown my environment. Therefore, this was the most obvious place to come. You know, it’s one of the places where I think my mom, [Princess Diana], was probably gonna end up living potentially.”
Harry & Meghan focuses on the Spare author and his new life in the U.S. with wife Meghan Markle and their two children: son Archie, 3, and daughter Lilibet, 18 months. Although Harry admits to missing certain aspects of his royal role, the series also explores the reasons behind his and Meghan’s exit.
“By the nature of being born into this position and with everything else that comes with it and the level of hate that has been stirred up in the last three years — especially against my wife and my son — I’m generally concerned for the safety of my family,” he said during episode 1, which aired on December 8 along with episodes 2 and 3. “This is about duty and service I feel as though being part of this family, it is my duty to uncover this exploitation and bribery that happens within our media.”
In episode 6, the Eton College alum provided an example of how he felt his royal persona had negatively affected Meghan, 41, reflecting on the pregnancy loss she experienced before the pair welcomed their daughter in June 2021.
“I believe my wife suffered a miscarriage because of what the Mail did. I watched the whole thing,” he said, referencing his wife’s lawsuit against the U.K.’s Mail on Sunday after the outlet published her private letter to father Thomas Markle in February 2019.
Harry continued: “Now, do we absolutely know that the miscarriage was created [or] caused by that? [Of] course we don’t, but bearing in mind the stress that that caused, the lack of sleep and the timing of the pregnancy [and] how many weeks in she was, I can say, from what I saw, that miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her.”
The former Royal Air Force Squadron Leader also recalled the royal family’s initial reaction to his decision to step back from senior royal duties.
“[I] went in with the same proposal that we’d already made publicly [about stepping down as senior working members]. But once I got there, I was given five options,” the duke explained, looking back on a January 2020 meeting with his family at Sandringham House, noting that the Suits alum was not invited. “One being all in, no change. Five being all out. I chose option three in the meeting. Half in, half out.”
The Archewell cofounder continued: “It was terrifying to have my brother, [Prince William], scream and shout at me, and my father, [King Charles III], say things that just simply weren’t true, and my grandmother [Queen Elizabeth II] quietly sit there and sort of take it all in.”
Harry noted that he didn’t blame the queen — who died in September at 96 — for her silence at the time. “You have to understand that — from the family’s perspective — especially from hers, there are ways of doing things, and her ultimate sort of mission, goal, slash responsibility is the institution,” he explained.
The BetterUp CIO added that “the saddest part” of the fallout from his decision was the “wedge created” between him and William, 40, who is now first in line for the British throne.
“Part of that, I get. I understand, right? That’s his inheritance. So, to some extent it’s already ingrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability and the continuation of this institution,” he said.
