Image copyright Getty Images The Duke of Sussex has insisted he will “always” protect his family, adding that he “will not be bullied into playing a game that killed my mum “.
Speaking in an ITV documentary, the duke said he did not want a” repeat of the past “.
Meanwhile, the Duchess of Sussex said her British friends warned her not to marry the prince due to media scrutiny.
The royal couple were interviewed by Tom Bradby during their tour of southern Africa in September.
Prince Harry, 35, was asked if he worried whether his wife may face the same pressures in the spotlight as his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997.
He said: “I will always protect my family, and now I have a family to protect.
“So everything that she (Diana) went through, and what happened to he r, is incredibly important every single day, and that is not me being paranoid, that is just me not wanting a repeat of the past. “
Following recent newspaper reports of a rift between the Sussexes and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry said he and his brother, Prince William, have “good days” and “bad days”.
He added: “We are brothers. We will always be brothers.
“We are certainly on different paths at the moment but I will always be there for him as I know he will always be there for me.”
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The prince later described his mental health and the way he deals with the pressures of his life as a matter of “constant management”.
He said: “I thought I was out of the woods and then suddenly it all came back, and this is something that I have to manage .
“Part of this job is putting on a brave face but, for me and my wife, there is a lot of stuff that hurts, especially when the majority of it is untrue. “
The Africa tour was Prince Harry, Meghan and their baby son Archie’s first official royal tour as a
The duchess, who married Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in May 2018 and gave birth to their son Archie this year, spoke about her experiences as a new royal since that marriage.
Media portrayal ‘a very unhappy story’
Harry has learned to be diplomatic. But his words about his brother confirm that, perhaps unsurprisingly given the way his life has changed, they are not that close anymore. Of course, there will always be love. But things have changed.
Meghan is a superb communicator and her message was controlled, carefully thought out and brilliantly delivered. “I never thought it would be easy,” she said of tabloid newspaper coverage, “but I thought it would be fair”. She’s clearly horrified at her portrayal over the past few months. The British pride themselves on being fair and her use of that word stung.
“Has it been a struggle?” pressed Tom Bradby. “Yes,” said Meghan. Harry acknowledged that he still struggles with his mental health. The couple are feeling and talking about the pressure and Harry now sees the shadow of his mother in every camera, every headline. This was a very unhappy story.
Which is odd. Because they are much-loved and – with Harry’s energy and Meghan’s back story – continue to touch the parts that other royals don’t. But now there is a long, low rumble of discontent.
The US-born former actress said adjusting to royal life had been “hard”, adding that she was not prepared for the intensity of the tabloid media scrutiny .
“When I first met my now-husband my friends were really happy because I was so happy,” she said.
“But my British friends said to me, ‘I’m sure he’s great but you shouldn’t do it because the British tabloids will destroy your life ‘. “
Meghan also told the program thatthat it was a “struggle” being pregnant and a new motheramid the intense interest from newspapers.
The documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey aired on ITV on Sunday evening .
As the tour the documentary followed came to an end, the duke and duchess both brought legal actions against the press.
Meghan is suing the Mail on Sundayover a claim that it unlawfully published one of her private letters.
Prince Harry filed his own proceedings at the High Courtagainst the owners of the Sun, the defunct News of the World, and the Daily Mirror, in relation to alleged phone-hacking dating back more than a decade.
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