Prince Harry claimed that life as a British royal has more drama than the show “Downton Abbey.”
The Duke of Sussex compared his experience to the beloved historical drama while speaking at the British-American Business Council’s 65th Annual Christmas Luncheon in Santa Monica, Calif., Friday.
“People sometimes ask if growing up with the royal family was a bit like [show creator Julian Fellowes] ‘Downton Abbey,‘ Harry said, according to People.
“Yeah, but only one of those worlds is filled with drama, intrigue, elaborate dinners [and] marriages to Americans — and the other is a TV show.”
The joke was a clear dig at his own family tensions, considering the ITV series — which ran for six seasons from 2010 to 2015 — is all about the social dynamics between upper class aristocrats and lower class servants in early 20th-century England.
Harry, 41, became estranged from his father, King Charles III, 77, and brother, Prince William, 43, after he and his wife, Meghan Markle, 44, retired from their royal duties and moved to California, where they reside with their two kids: Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.
The Sussexes have since conducted several interviews airing their family’s dirty laundry and Harry wrote his bombshell tell-all memoir, “Spare,” in 2023.
Charles, 77, has expressed being open to reconciliation with Harry and the father-son duo had a meetingfor less than an hour this past September.
However, Harry and William’s relationship remains icy.
During his speech last week, Harry also discussed being a Brit living in the United States.
“For me, being British isn’t about where you physically stand, but what you stand for,” he said.
The Invictus Games founder then discussed celebrating Fourth of July as an expat.
“It’s a new world to me, celebrating independence from Britain, and more specifically, independence from my great, great, great, great, great, great-grandfather,” he explained.
Harry also seemed to reference his absence from the royal family’s Christmas celebrations by noting that the luncheon was his “first Christmas party” he had attended in “a while.”
Last year, sources confirmed that Harry and the “With Love, Meghan” host did not receive an invitation to his family’s royal gathering at Sandringham.
The couple hasn’t spent Christmas with the royal family since 2018 — the year they tied the knot.
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