Prince Harry tells NBC’s Hoda Kotb he loves ‘chaos and learning’ of being dad to Archie and Lilibet

Hoda: ‘There was one woman who came up to me yesterday and she said something that totally struck me in my soul. She said the Invictus Games saved my life. How does that land for you?’

Harry: ‘It feels amazing. But every single Games that I go to I hear the same thing from so many of them. And that… it feels amazing that we have managed to play a part in their recovery, but it also makes me incredibly sad to know that that’s how dark it was for them.’

Hoda: ‘You’ve spoken about obviously mental health issues: When you put that heavy backpack down, like people are lugging stuff around, when you finally put it down. Do you feel yourself like peaceful, or at peace?’

Harry: ‘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 from that. But what I do know is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for absolutely everybody.’

Hoda: ‘The only thing I want in my life is to feel like peaceful. You’ve lived in the United States for two years now. Do you feel peaceful now?’

Harry: ‘I don’t know how many people feel truly peaceful, you know? I feel — at times I feel massively at peace. But with everything that is going on in the world and trying to help and trying to use the platform and the influence to try and steer people to try and help. Again, like I think like the biggest concern or the biggest issue that people wrestle with on daily basis that does provide more anxiety for me and for them is the helplessness. We as human beings are compassionate people. But when your life becomes really hard, it can be for some harder to find the compassion for other people. But what I’ve learned over the years is, certainly for myself, I find healing in helping others. And I think that what’s we should really be focusing on.’

Hoda: ‘I love that. I feel like life happens on a random Wednesday. Like here is an example. Some say oh my God I’m going to go on a vacation, my life is going to be great. And it is like exclamation points. The vacation, the graduation, the marriage, the baby. Those are all up here. The other exclamation marks are down here. It’s like sad things that happen, loss, divorce, whatever. Most of life is Wednesday. It doesn’t have the highs. And it doesn’t have the lows. It is just Wednesday. What is a Wednesday like for you, random?’

Harry: ‘What’s a Wednesday like? It revolves around the kids as much as humanly possible. This whole working from home stuff is not all it’s cracked up to be, certainly post-Covid. Because it is really hard when your kids and you are in the same place. It is really hard to separate the work from them. Because they kind of overlap. So I mean Archie spends more time interrupting our Zoom calls than anybody else. But he also gets us off them as well, so that’s also a nice thing.’

Hoda: ‘Does he have your personality? Is he kind of like you? He’s got a little bit of your thing?’

Harry: ‘What’s my thing?’

Hoda: ‘Your cheeky thing?’

Harry: ‘My cheeky thing? Yeah, I think so. I always try and keep that. The cheekiness is something that keeps you alive. There is just so much to be happy about in the outside world, but there is also so much to worry about. My sort of mantra now every day, and it is a dangerous one, because I need to make sure that I don’t have burnout, but is trying to make the world a better place for my kids. Otherwise what is the point of point of bringing kids into this world? It is a responsibility I feel as a parent you probably feel as a parent as well. And we can’t fix everything. We know that. But what we can do is be there for each other.’

Hoda: ‘You obviously made lot of news recently. You went back to the UK. You saw your grandmother. How was that?’

Harry: ‘It was great. It was really nice to see her. To be able to see her in some element of privacy was nice. I hadn’t had the chance to go back the UK for couple of years apart from those two times. One for my grandfather’s funeral and one for unveiling a statue of my mum.’

Hoda: ‘How did it feel being back, being with her?’

Harry: ‘Being with her, it was great. It was just so nice to see her. You know, she’s on great form. She has always got a great sense of humour with me and I’m just making sure she’s protected and has got the right people around her.’

Hoda: ‘You make her laugh, that’s what she always says. Did you do it again?’

Harry: ‘Yes I did. I had tea with her. It was really nice to catch up with her and, you know, home for me now is, you know, for the time being, it’s in the States. And it feels that way as well.’

Hoda: ‘Does it?’

Harry: ‘Yeah. We’ve been welcomed with open arms. And we’ve got such a great community up in Santa Barbara.’

Hoda: ‘So you feel like that’s home more for you?’

Harry: ‘Yeah.’

Hoda: ‘Is that weird to say?’

Harry: ‘No. But I’m sure it will become a thing.’

Hoda: ‘Your grandmother is going to be 96. What is the best thing about her?’

Harry: ‘Her sense of humour and her ability to see the humour in so many different things. We have a really special relationship. We talk about things that she can’t talk about with anybody else, so that is always a nice peace to her. But I think she’s… I think after a certain age you get bored of birthdays.’

Hoda: ‘You do, do think she’s bored of her 96th. She won’t be bored of the Jubilee, will she?

Harry: ‘No. I don’t think so. She’s had a few Jubilees now and every one is slightly different. I’m sure she is looking forward to it.’

Hoda: ‘Do you think you will come?’

Harry: ‘I don’t know yet. There’s lots of things with security issues and everything else. So, this is what I’m trying to do, trying to make it possible that I can get my kids to meet her.’

Hoda: ‘Your family at home. Do you miss them?’

Harry: ‘Yes. I think especially over the last two years, for most people, have they not missed their family? The ability to even get home and see them? Of course. That’s — you know, that’s a huge part of it.’

Hoda: ‘But do you miss your brother, your dad?

Harry: ‘Look I mean, for me at the moment, I’m here focused on these guys and these families and giving everything that I can, 120 per cent to them to make sure they have the experience of a lifetime. That’s my focus here. And when I leave here, I get back and my focus is on my family who I miss massively.’

Hoda: ‘You do. I bet.’

Harry: ‘Of course I do, they are two little people.’

Hoda: ‘I was thinking about a new life. You got a whole restart. You have a whole new focus, a whole new nucleus. How does that land with you?’

Harry: ‘I think the focus is very much the same’

Reporter: ‘Is it?’

Harry: ‘Yeah, certainly. From my wife’s point of view. For the two of us, this is a life she signed up for and we were committed to doing this together as a couple forever. Because of the circumstances, we’ve now moved that life of service to the States and we’ll continue doing what we were doing before. So in that regard nothing’s has changed for us. It is just a little bit more complicated to have to sort of restart.’

Hoda: ‘Sure. What do you love about fatherhood?

Harry: ‘What do I love about fatherhood? All of it. The chaos, the learning, the reminder of just every element of yourself, your soul, right? When you are not a parent you can get sucked into all sort of different stuff and you can maybe sometimes forget who you are. And suddenly as a parent, especially now Archie is at the age he is at, asking all the questions.’

Hoda: ‘What does he ask?’

Harry: ‘Questions of the whys. He’s into the why stage. Why this? Why that? Why that? And instead of just trying to move it on, I give him the most honest answer I can. And then it goes on and on and on until he’s satisfied. And then that’s it. It’s done. Otherwise it ends up with – because the world is round and that it is the way life is.’

Hoda: ‘That’s just the way it goes.’

Harry: ‘So it’s like, I love it. I love every part of it. I’ve always wanted to be a dad. I’ve always wanted to have my own kids and now I have got two little people who I’m responsible for.’

Hoda: ‘Do you tell them or tell Archie now he’s old enough about your mom?’

Harry: ‘Yes. Yeah, yeah. 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.’

Hoda: ‘In these moments do you ever feel your mum’s presence?’

Harry: ‘Yeah, no, for me it is constant. It has been over the last two years. More so than ever before. And it is almost as though she’s done her bit with my brother and now she’s very much, like, helping me. Got him set up. And now she’s helping me set up. That’s what it feels like, you know? He’s got his kids. I’ve got my kids, you know the circumstances are obviously different. But now, I feel her presence in almost everything that I do now. But definitely more so in the last two years than ever before. Without question. So she’s watching over us.’

Hoda: ‘I’m sure she’s proud of you.’

Harry: ‘I’m sure she is.’