Prince Harry Vows to ‘Break the Cycle’ of ‘Genetic Pain and Suffering’ Within the Royal Family When Raising His Kids
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Prince Harry has, once again, opened up about his life as a royal — telling Armchair Expert host Dax Shepard that he plans to parent his children differently than how Prince Charles raised him.
Sitting down with Shepard and his cohost Monica Padman for an interview that aired Thursday, the Duke of Sussex stressed the importance of “breaking the cycle” while parenting.
“There’s no blame, I don’t think we should be pointing the finger of blame at anybody,” he said. “Certainly when it comes to parenting, if I’ve experienced some form of pain and suffering, because of the pain and suffering that perhaps my father or parents had suffered, I’m going to make sure I break that cycle so I don’t pass it on.
He explained that he was never aware of his father’s pain while growing up, noting that he never knew about it until he began to “piece it all together.”
Prince Harry attributed the way Prince Charles raised him to his father’s own parents — Queen Elizabeth II and the late Prince Philip — and his experiences at school.
Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith, who detailed Prince Charles’ upbringing in her book Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, wrote of his strained relationship with Prince Philip — who allegedly “belittled” his son and viewed him as “soft.”
The book also highlighted how much Prince Charles hated attending the Gordonstoun School as a child, reporting that he called his time there “absolute hell.”
“So that means that he’s treating me the way that he was treated, which means how can we change that for my kids?” Prince Harry continued. “Here I am. I now moved my whole family to the U.S. That wasn’t the plan! But sometimes you’ve got to make decisions and put your family first and mental health first.”
Prince Harry noted that “a lot of genetic pain and suffering gets passed on anyway,” adding that, “as parents, we should try and make sure we’re doing the most we can. Like, ‘That happened to me. I’m gonna make sure that doesn’t happen to you.’”
The Duke of Sussex also urged listeners to learn from the “bad stuff that happens to you,” adding, “The universe is basically saying to you, ‘I’m gonna school you.’ What can you take from each of those moments?”
