Prince Harry has said he “wants it to work out” with his family – but claimed that others “don’t want to” pursue the same intention.
The Duke of Sussex said in a wide-ranging interview that the “scars stick around forever”, but that building bridges with his relatives was a future ambition.
In an interview with GQ magazine recorded in late September and shared on Tuesday, Harry said that his move back to the UK with Meghan Markle and his children was partly driven by a desire to be “closer” to his family, with whom his relationships have been strained in recent years.
He said he wished to reconcile with them, but appeared to suggest doubts about whether that feeling would be reciprocated.
Harry said: “People maybe look at us and go, ‘How are you going to work it out?’
“And then, maybe, how I see you’re going to work it out, maybe that will help me work my stuff out.
“And some people don’t want it to work out. I want it to work out.”
A spokesperson for the Sussexes said: “It was absolutely not intended as a swipe at his brother or any other member of his family. The comment was made in a general context and was not directed at his family in any way”.
The Duke of Sussex and his older brother Prince William have had a strained relationship since the Sussexes left the UK. Last year, Harry said his father, King Charles, would not speak to him, though they are now believed to be on speaking terms once more.
It is believed that William and Harry have not spoken in several years, and have not been seen publicly together since the King’s coronation in 2023.
In the interview, Harry told GQ that “scars stick around forever” but added that he would encourage everybody to let go of the past.
“If there’s certain things from the past that are still affecting your every day, that’s harder to let go of”, he said.
“But yeah, for me, there’s enough drama in the world and enough drama in people’s lives not to continue with issues with family.”
The interviewer asked if he was saying it was “not worth it”, and Harry said: “That’s hard to say to people when you’re in it.”
Asked if he was “grieving” the relationships he had with his father and his brother, Harry said: “Yes, of course. I think from a family perspective, again: another massively relatable issue for so many people.
“There’s sibling disagreements, there’s broken relationships between kids and their parents, kids and one parent.
“That continues to come up with me the whole time by people that I speak to. So I know how relatable it is.”
The Duke added: “With everything else that’s going on in the world, the most important thing is to reconcile. That’s the key point.”
Harry and Meghan announced in January 2020 that they wanted to step down as senior royals for a dual life, earning their own money in the US and supporting the monarch.
The couple headed to California and quit as working royals completely in March of that year.
In a television interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey, the couple claimed an unnamed royal had made a racist remark about their son’s skin tone before he was born and said that the monarchy had failed to help Meghan when she was suicidal.
The Sussexes went on to sign multi-million-pound commercial deals with Netflix and Spotify.
Harry and Meghan continued to make allegations in a Netflix documentary and his bestselling autobiography, Spare.
The Duke claimed in the book that his brother knocked him to the floor into a dog bowl in a row over Meghan’s alleged behaviour.
Harry’s interview comes as the Sultan of Oman has embarked on the first state visit since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned to the UK, but Harry and Meghan, who are not working royals, do not take part in official royal engagements.
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