LONDON — Prince Harry mentioned he needed to return to the United Kingdom for Queen Elizabeth II’s upcoming platinum jubilee and so his kids could spend time with their great-grandmother, but warned that “security issues” could get in the way.
“I don’t know yet. There’s a lot of things, with security issues and everything else,” Harry instructed “TODAY” co-host Hoda Kotb throughout an unique interview to focus on the fifth Invictus Games, a sports activities competitors for wounded and sick service members and veterans that he based.
Harry, 37, mentioned he was “trying to make it possible” to return to the U.Ok. along with his kids, Archie and Lilibet, to allow them to get to know his dwelling nation and spend time with Elizabeth, who turns 96 Thursday. Lilibet, who was born in the United States in June, has not met her great-grandmother and different members of the royal household.
The Duke of Sussex has been locked in a battle with the British authorities over a call to block him from paying for police safety throughout visits to the U.Ok. Harry has mentioned he desires to pay for police safety himself, reasonably than asking British taxpayers to foot the invoice, but he has mentioned he can not accomplish that with out the go-ahead from Britain’s Home Office.
Without correct police safety, a authorized consultant for Harry has beforehand mentioned, it could be too dangerous for the prince, his spouse, Meghan, and their kids to go to the U.Ok. from Santa Barbara, California, the place they now reside.
Harry additionally instructed Kotb of how good it was to spend time along with his grandmother earlier this month after he and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, quietly met with the monarch over tea.
The assembly was their first since the couple stepped down as senior working royals and moved to North America in 2020, with the two talking out about the strain they confronted in their roles and alleged racist remedy of Meghan by members of the British media.
Harry instructed Kotb the queen had appeared in “great form” following a bout of Covid. “Being with her, it was great,” he mentioned. “It was nice to see her, you know.”
The prince mentioned he had needed to be certain that his grandmother was “protected” and has “got the right people around her.”
He additionally praised the queen for her “great sense of humor” and mentioned he nonetheless shared a “really special relationship” along with his grandmother.
“We speak about issues that she will be able to’t speak about with anyone else,” he said.
Asked later whether he has missed his family, he said “Of course, that’s a huge part of it.” However, he said, he was focused on the families represented at the Invictus Games.
“That’s my focus here. And when I leave here, I get back and my focus is my family, who I miss massively,” he said of his wife and two children.
The prince said he loved everything about being a father, including “the chaos, the learning, the reminder of just every element of yourself, your soul.”
“I’ve always wanted to be a dad. I’ve always wanted to have my own kids and now, I’ve got two little people who I’m responsible for,” he said.
He said that while it could feel “complicated” at times having to “sort of restart” life “from a blank canvas,” with their move to the U.S., he and Meghan are committed to building a future for their family “together as a couple forever.”
Asked by Kotb whether he ever talks about his mother, Princess Diana, with his son, Archie, now that he’s old enough, Harry replied: “Very much so.”
“I don’t tell him all the stuff that happened, but certainly that this is you know, Grandma Diana, and we’ve got a couple of photos up in the house,” he said.
Harry said he could still feel his mother’s presence, particularly over “the last two years, more so than ever before.”
“I feel her presence in almost everything that I do now,” he said.
Laura Saravia contributed.