Prince Harry once made a sly dig at King Charles during a heartbreaking interview about childhood.
On an episode on Dax Shepard’s podcast ‘Armchair Expert’ in May 2021, the 40-year-old spoke about the “genetic pain and suffering” that he said has been passed down throughout his family.
Opening up about his mental health, he said that he wanted to make sure he didn’t pass the pain he experienced as a child onto his two children – Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.
At time of the interview, Harry and his wife Meghan Markle were just weeks away from welcoming their daughter – who was born on June 4, 2021.
He told co-hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman: “I don’t think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody, but certainly when it comes to parenting.”
Harry, who now lives in the US with Meghan, Archie and Lilibet, added: “If I’ve experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I’m going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don’t pass it on, basically.”
Fast forward two years, Harry also opened up about his childhood trauma in an eye-opening conversation with Dr. Gabor Maté last year.
In the sit-down interview in March 2023, Harry told the Hungarian-Canadian physician that he is focused on being the best father possible to Archie and Lilibet.
Harry told him: “I feel a huge responsibility not to pass on any trauma or negative experiences that I’ve had as a kid or as a man growing up.
“And that’s work, that’s putting in the work, and daily, being conscious of my behavior, of my reactions to both of my kids.”
Harry later went on to discuss how he and Meghan “do the best we can as parents”, adding that they are “learning from our own past and overlapping those mistakes, perhaps, and growing to break that cycle”.
The Duke of Sussex said it is important for him to show his son and daughter love and affection, sharing that he was “deprived” of that as a child.
