LONDON – The British “toxic” media has driven Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, to leave the royal family for the United States, Harry said in an extensive interview with fellow Britons and TV hosts. James Corden which was broadcast Thursday night.
The compatriots sat on an open bus and drank tea while driving around Los Angeles, talking everything from media intrusion to the popular Netflix series ‘The Crown’.
Harry also discussed what the future holds for his family after the couple completed their royal exodus last week.
“We all know what the British press can be like and it has ruined my mental health,” Harry said in an interview with The Late Late Show With James Corden.
“It’s toxic,” he added, adding that the media had created a “very difficult” environment for the couple.
“So I did what any man and any father would do – I have to get my family out of here,” he said.
Just over a year after the couple first announced they would retire from their royal duties, Buckingham Palace said last Friday that they had finalized the split.
“Although everyone is saddened by their decision, the Duke and Duchess remain many beloved members of the family,” the statement said.
But while the couple will not return as working members of the royal family, Harry maintains that they ‘never ran away’.
“As for me, no matter what decisions are made, I will never walk away. I will always contribute, but my life is public service, so wherever I am in the world, it will be the same,” he said.
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The final break completes a dramatic journey for the couple, whose fairytale marriage is quickly eliminated amid rumors of a fraternal rift and a tabloid newspaper, which according to Meghan’s supporters are often turned into racist harassment and bullying.
The couple moved to California with their son, Archie, last year to lead a more independent life and announced on Valentine’s Day that they were expecting their second child.
They have signed multi-million dollar deals with media companies Spotify and Netflix and will give a “comprehensive” interview with media magnate Oprah Winfrey in March.
Earlier this month, Meghan won a privacy lawsuit against a British media company, which published parts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father, Thomas Markle. In court documents, she said the intrusion caused her “very real sadness” and damaged relationships.
In the Corden interview, Harry said he considered false news stories to be factual, compared to the TV show “The Crown,” which was “natural fiction.”
“I feel much more comfortable with ‘The Crown’ than seeing the stories written about my family, or my wife or myself,” he said.
“They are not pretending to be news – it’s fictional, but it’s loosely based on the truth,” he added.
This brings him into conflict with some British historians and legislators who have insisted the series, with its decorations and exaggerations of Windsor family sagas, is fiction – amid fears it could tarnish the royal family’s reputation impair.
The frivolous late-night interview also saw host Corden take Harry to the house where the TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” was shot. Corden, who is video calling the Duchess of Sussex, begged the couple to buy the property.
“I think we’ve moved enough,” Meghan replied.
Harry also revealed that his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, bought his son, Archie, a waffle maker for Christmas, and that she and her husband, Prince Philip, knew how to make Zoom calls.
On Thursday, the Queen (94) urged the British public to follow her lead and be vaccinated against Covid-19, saying that it is ‘very fast’ and ‘very harmless’ and that it will benefit society.
Both the Queen and Philip, 99, who are currently being treated in a London hospital for an unspecified infection, received Covid-19 vaccinations in January.
