Prince Harry Opens Up About Marriage With Meghan, "Difficult" Royal Life and the Queen's Gift to Archie

Prince Harry was a surprise guest to The Late Late Show on Feb. 25, where he told James Corden the British press had been "destroying my mental health."

By Ryan Gajewski Feb 26, 2021 7:59 AMTags

Prince Harry took his first guided tour of Los Angeles with an unusual chaperone.

The Late Late Show's James Corden welcomed Harry during a taped segment on Thursday, Feb. 25, where the two Brits enjoyed a drive around the L.A. area on top of an open-air bus and had a revealing chat about the latest developments in the guest's life. 

Meghan Markle made a brief appearance during the spot when James told her via FaceTime that he was trying to convince her 36-year-old husband to purchase the home used in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

"I think we've done enough moving," the Duchess of Sussex quipped. She then asked her husband, "Haz, how's your tour of L.A. going?" and James was quite tickled by the adorable nickname. 

But Harry proved to be a good sport by reciting the Fresh Prince theme song by heart, and he even took a pee break in the storied home.

After leaving the TV-famous abode, James got down to business by asking about the announcement on Feb. 19 that Harry and his wife will not return as working members of the royal family.

"It was never walking away—it was stepping back, rather than stepping down," Harry clarified. "It was a really difficult environment, as I think a lot of people saw. We all know what the British press can 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."

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He continued, "But we never walked away. And as far as I'm concerned, whatever decisions are made on that side, I will never walk away. I will always be contributing, but my life is public service, so wherever I am in the world, it's going to be the same thing."

Elsewhere in the interview, James asked how he knew he was in love with Meghan.

"The second date, I was starting to think, Wow, this is pretty special," the Duke of Sussex replied. "It wasn't so much where we went, it was just the way that we hit it off with each other, and we were just so comfortable in each other's company."

He explained that dating with him or any member of the royal family is "kind of flipped upside-down," as the couples initially spend low-key time together behind closed doors before eventually venturing out into the public eye.

Toby Melville /PA Wire

"Everything was done back-to-front with us, so actually, we got to spend an enormous amount of time just the two of us, rather than going to friends' houses or out for dinner, where there are other distractions," Harry revealed. "There were no distractions, and that was great. That was an amazing thing. We went from 0 to 60 in the first two months."

James asked him to describe a typical day with Meghan and son Archie, now that they live in Santa Barbara.

"Depending on how the day's been, how busy it's been: Do Archie's tea, give him a bath, read him a book, put him down, go downstairs, Meg might cook a meal, might order a takeaway, go upstairs, sit in bed, turn the TV on, watch some Jeopardy!, maybe watch a little bit of Netflix," Harry shared.

When asked what Harry thinks of Netflix's The Crown, he replied, "It's fictional, but it's loosely based on the truth." Harry continued, "I am way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family or my wife or myself. Because it's the difference between, that is obviously fiction, take it how you will, but this is being reported on as fact because you're supposedly news. I have a real issue with that."

James asked about fatherhood, and Harry did not mention the fact that Meghan is currently expecting another baby. But Harry did gush about Archie, saying that the boy is "hysterical" and has "the most amazing personality.

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The proud papa revealed that his son's first word was "crocodile" and added, "He's already putting three, four words together. He's already singing songs."

Harry then shared that Queen Elizabeth had asked the couple what Archie might want for Christmas, and Meghan's answer was a waffle maker, which the Queen ended up sending to them.

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"So at breakfast now, Meg makes up a beautiful organic mix, in the waffle maker, flip it, out it comes," Harry said. "He loves it. And now I have waffles for breakfast, bit of yogurt, bit of jam on top—I don't know if that's the right thing to do—bit of berries maybe, a little honey, maybe some syrup. Archie wakes up in the morning, and he just goes, 'Waffle?'"

When James asked if Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip know how to use Zoom, Harry shared that he and Meghan have Zoomed a few times with his grandparents, and that they've gotten to see Archie having some fun.

Check out the full segment in the video above, including the two guys competing in an arduous obstacle course.