Prince Harry at 40: ‘Damaged by divorce, troubled by exile, but born to be a dad’, says royal expert

“Harry has always been quite sporty, and very competitive,” Jennie comments. “I bet he gets the kids involved in all sorts of games and makes it incredibly fun, as well as teaching them skills like surfing or football. The warm weather and outdoor lifestyle in Montecito must make bringing up children a joy, so much easier to get them away from screens and TV, which Harry and Meghan clearly both feel very strongly about.”
Despite his commitments to charity and his role as an international advocate for mental health and environmental issues, Jennie believes Harry is deeply engaged in fatherhood. “I think he is relishing his role as a parent and playing the fullest part he can in the lives of his two tots,” she asserts. “He’s lucky enough to be able to share most of their lives so I’m sure Harry is a devoted dad and no stranger to nappy changing or school runs. I think he finds the security and anchor in his little family that was sadly missing in his own broken childhood home.”

Prince Harry’s childhood was clouded with emotional upheaval from his parents’ tumultuous separation and their public brawls, Jennie recalls. “It’s hard to know exactly when the damage wrought by his parents’ broken marriage began to make its mark on Harry,” reflects the author. “He was only eight when Charles and Diana officially separated, but he had witnessed the marital difficulties long before that. I’m sure the insecurity of his own childhood has made him all the more determined to give his kids the perfect upbringing and to have them wrapped in a bubble of love and awareness of the love between their parents.”

The Sussexes’ move abroad has led to Archie and Lilibet barely knowing their relatives a challenging affair given their close succession to the throne. “This is the saddest part of their exile,” remarks the commentator. “At the moment, the children don’t know any difference, but as they grow up Harry and Meghan will have some delicate manoeuvring to negotiate to explain the situation. It must be something that troubles Harry as a dad.”