Prince Harry interview - live: Royal deflects question about whether he misses his brother and father
Follow the latest updates from the Duke of Sussex’s interview with NBC News’ ‘Today’ at the Invictus Games
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Your support makes all the difference.Prince Harry has said he is making sure his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II is “protected” and has “the right people around her,” while deflecting a question about whether he misses his brother and father.
In an interview with the Today show’s Hoda Kotb on NBC on Wednesday, the Duke of Sussex said it was “just so nice” to see the Queen on only his third trip back to the UK since March 2020.
The royal sat down with Kotb while in The Hague, Netherlands to attend the Invictus Games, with the full interview aired on Wednesday morning.
The interview came just one year after the Duke’s explosive TV special with Oprah Winfrey alongside his wife Meghan, during which the couple detailed a number of concerning claims about their time as royals.
Follow live updates below as we report the latest news from Prince Harry’s visit and learn more about what he said to NBC.
The Today host and Prince Harry also discussed his and Meghan Markle’s recent visit to see the Queen, and the duke’s favourite thing about his grandmother, her humour.
After praising the 95-year-old monarch’s humour, and her “ability to see the humour in so many different things,” Prince Harry said the pair share a “special” relationship.
“We have a really special relationship, we talk about things that she can’t talk about with anybody else,” the duke said.
While speaking to Kotb, Prince Harry was also asked about whether he misses his family, and specifically, his brother Prince William and his father Prince Charles, with the Duke of Sussex deflecting the question as he explained that his focus is on his Invictus family and his own family with Meghan Markle.
Prince Harry deflects question about whether he misses his brother and father
Duke of Sussex says his focus is on his Invictus family and his family at home
According to the Duke of Sussex, he does have moments of peace, however, as he told the Today host: “At times I feel massively at peace.”
You can read more about what Prince Harry told Kotb about his happiness since moving to the US below:
Prince Harry reveals whether he now feels ‘peaceful’
‘I don’t know how many people feel truly peaceful’
Prince Harry has begun speaking with Hoda Kotb in an interview filmed from the fifth Invictus Games in The Netherlands.
In the beginning of the interview, the Today show host asked the royal whether he now feels at peace, to which he acknowledged that mental health is about management.
“I think everyone ends up feeling lighter, I think is the best way to describe it. For so many people, it is about management. You know the things that trigger you, therefore you try and stay away. But what I do know is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for absolutely everybody,” Harry said.
Interview imminent
The Today show will begin in about one minute, with Prince Harry’s interview soon to follow.
Prince Harry’s interview: what we know so far
We're now half an hour away from the start of NBC's Today show, which will include Prince Harry's interview. Here are the key points so far:
- Harry and Meghan had tea with the Queen last week during a secret visit to the UK
- The Duke said he is making sure the Queen is 'protected' and surrounded by 'the right people'
- California now feels more like 'home' to him than Britain
- The Queen is 'on great form' after her brush with Covid-19 earlier this year
This year was Meghan Markle’s first appearance at Invictus Games
NBC's interview with Prince Harry took place while he was visiting the Netherlands to attend the Invictus Games, a sporting competition for injured and sick military service members and veterans that he founded in 2014.
The Games, named after William Ernest Henley's famous Victorian poem – the title of which means "unconquered" in Latin – were the prince's attempt to inspire hurt service members following his time in the British Army in Afghanistan.
However, the games were postponed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and again in 2021, making this installment an emotional one for the Duke of Sussex.
“To the key workers on the frontlines in the battle against the pandemic, we are with you,” said Prince Harry and various associates in a collective video last February. “When the world is ready, we will compete with all we have, with all we are.”
It is all the more significant because it is the first Invictus Games where the Duke has appeared with his wife Meghan Markle, with whom he has built a new life in California away from the royal apparatus which they say shelters racism and bullying.
ICYMI: Harry is making sure the Queen is 'protected'
Another preview clip from NBC showed the Duke saying he wanted to make sure his grandmother the Queen is "protected" and has the "right people around her".
While Prince Harry did not elaborate on his meaning during the preview clip, his comments about protecting the monarch come after he and Meghan shared a number of surprising claims about their time as royals during an interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.
At one point during the interview with Winfrey, Prince Harry alleged that the Queen, who he described as the “head of The Firm,” is badly advised by those around her.
ICYMI: California now 'feels like home' to Prince Harry
In a preview clip from NBC last night, the Duke of Sussex revealed that California feels like “home” to him and that he and Meghan Markle have been welcomed with “open arms” in the Golden State.
"Home for me now is, for the time being, it’s in the States,” Prince Harry said. "And it feels that way as well. We’ve been welcomed with open arms. And it’s got such a great community up in Santa Barbara."
The pair live together in Montecito, a small chichi town neighbouring the beach resort city Santa Barbara on California's picturesque Pacific coastline, about 90 miles up the shore from Los Angeles.
CYMI: Queen is 'on great form' after brush with Covid
Prince Harry told TV host Hoda Kotb that his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II was on “great form” after her recent bout with Covid 19.
According to new preview footage released by NBC News last night, the Duke of Sussex opened up about his recent secret visit to the Queen last week.
“She’s on great form," said the Duke. She’s always got a great sense of humour with me, and I’m just making sure that she’s protected and got the right people around her.”
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