Prince Harry tells James Corden ‘toxic’ British press ‘was destroying my mental health’
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Major moments in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s relationship
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Prince Harry says he and wife Duchess Meghan stepped back from royal life because of the “toxic” British media.
During an appearance on James Corden’s “The Late Late Show,” the Duke of Sussex, 36, opened up about his decision to step away.
“It was never walking away,” he said. “It was stepping back rather than stepping down.”
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Earlier this month, Buckingham Palace confirmed the royal couple would not returning to the United Kingdom to resume their senior royal roles after a year-end review of their departure agreement.
“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,” Harry told Corden. “I was like, ‘This is toxic.’ So I did what any husband and father would do… I need to get my family out of here.”
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 – my life is public service, so wherever I am in the world it is going to be the same thing.”
He said life in the United States for him and Meghan is going to be a “continuation of what we were doing back in the U.K.”
More: Duchess Meghan pregnant with Baby No. 2 with Prince Harry; reveal has a connection to Diana
He said he and the former Meghan Markle enjoy “trying to bring some compassion and trying to make people happy and trying to change the world in any small way that we can.”
Harry also shared his thoughts on his family’s depiction in the popular Netflix series “The Crown.”
“It’s fictional, but it’s loosely based on the truth,” he said. “Of course, it’s not strictly accurate, but loosely, it gives you a rough idea of what that lifestyle – what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that.”
He continued, “I’m way more comfortable with ‘The Crown’ than seeing the stories written about my family, my wife and myself, because that is obviously fiction… but this is being reported on as fact because you’re supposedly news. I have a real issue with that.”
The segment wasn’t all serious.
The late-night host and royal started by boarding a double decker tour bus, where they drank tea and chatted about all things Los Angeles, from famous celebrities who lived nearby to “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
On their tour, they stopped by the actual house from “Fresh Prince.”
“How much would you sell this house to Harry and Meghan for?” Corden asked the homeowner before turning to Harry. “Think about how cool it would be to go, ‘I’m a prince and I live in the house of the Fresh Prince.’ ”
More: Duchess Meghan, Prince Harry support completion of emergency relief center
A quick FaceTime call to Meghan, where Corden jokingly tried to convince the duchess to be interested in the house, revealed that her nickname for the prince is “Haz.”
Harry also gave insight to life at home with baby Archie, saying the queen sent him a waffle maker for Christmas and that both the queen and Prince Philip know how to work Zoom calls.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Prince Harry tells James Corden ‘toxic’ British press ‘was destroying my mental health’