Prince Harry stepped back because UK press was 'destroying' his mental health

Prince Harry opened up about his struggles during a wide-ranging interview with James Corden. Photo / AP

Prince Harry says he stepped back from royal duties because the UK press was "toxic" and was "destroying" his mental health.

The royal opened up about his struggles during a wide-ranging interview with James Corden on The Late Late Show, as the pair toured Los Angeles on an open-top double-decker bus.

"It was never walking away, it was stepping back rather than stepping down," said Harry, 36, explaining that he needed to get his family out.

"It was a really difficult environment as I think a lot of people saw. We all know what the British press can be like and it was destroying my mental health, I was like, this is toxic.

"I did what any husband and what any father would do, is like 'I need to get my family out of here,'" he told Corden in the clip.

"But we never walked away — and as far as I'm concerned, whatever decisions are made on that side — I will never walk away. I will always be contributing. My life is public service so wherever I am in the world, it's always going to be the same thing."

The prince said that he prefers The Crown's portrayal of his family's history because it "does not pretend to be news".

He said he would like to be played in the series by Damian Lewis.

All aboard! James is taking Prince Harry for a double-decker tour of Los Angeles and it starts NOW 🚌 pic.twitter.com/hQGwfsjqyX

— The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) February 26, 2021

"They don't pretend to be news — it's fictional. But it's loosely based on the truth," he said.

"Of course it's not strictly accurate ... it gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that.

"I'm way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about family, my wife, or myself ... this is being reported on as fact because you're supposedly news, and I have a real issue with that."

During the interview, in which he and Corden have afternoon tea, he also revealed that he has seen little of LA because of lockdown, and has never been on an open-top bus despite their iconic status in his former home of London.

The royal said he knew wife Meghan Markle, 39, was "the one" on their second date.

"The second date I was starting to think, 'wow, this is pretty special,'" said the Duke of Sussex. "It wasn't so much where we went it was just the fact, the way that we hit it off with each other, and we were just so comfortable in each other's company.

"Dating with me, or with any member of the royal family I guess, is kind of flipped upside down. All the dates become dinners or watching TV or chatting at home, and then eventually once you become a couple, then you venture out to dinners, to the cinema and everything else. So everything was done back to front with us, so actually we got to spend an enormous amount of time just the two of us, rather than going to friends' houses or out for dinner where there were other distractions.

"And that was great, it was an amazing thing, we went from zero to 60 in like the first two months."

Harry said that a typical evening for the couple would involve feeding and bathing Archie and reading him a book before Meghan cooking a meal or ordering a takeaway, then watching Jeopardy or Netflix shows from bed.

He also revealed that the Queen bought their son Archie, one, a waffle-maker for Christmas. He said they sometimes Zoom with the Queen and Prince Philip — and that the Duke of Edinburgh always slam the laptop at the end of a chat rather than clicking out.

Corden is seen showing him the homes of Hollywood's rich and famous and taking him to the house featured in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, at which point Harry's attempts the rap and takes a toilet break.

The British presenter then calls Meghan in an attempt to persuade them to live in the home. "I think we've done enough moving," the Duchess laughs, referring to Harry as "Haz".

The prince said their life in LA after lockdown would be a continuation of what they were doing in the UK. "My life is always going to be about public service and Meghan signed up to that and the two of us enjoy doing that — trying to bring some compassion and trying to make people happy and trying to change the world in any small way that we can."