Prince Harry revealed he had “stuff from the past” he “needed to deal with” before welcoming kids with his wife, Meghan Markle.
The Duke of Sussex opened up about fatherhood and his struggles becoming a parent during a Movember event in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday, per People.
“Certainly from a therapy standpoint, you want to be the best version of yourself for your kids,” Harry, 41, began. “And I knew that I had stuff from the past that I needed to deal with and therefore, prepare myself to basically cleanse myself of the past.”
Once Harry and Markle’s son, Prince Archie, was born in May 2019, the duke’s therapist reminded him to “just be aware of how you feel once the baby is born.”
However, the royal revealed he felt a “disconnection” after Archie’s birth because Markle, 44, “was the one creating life” and he was only “there to witness it.”
Harry then reminded the fathers in the audience that they were “not alone” as they also struggled with and navigated becoming a parent.
“To the dads and soon-to-be dads: yes, it’s messy,” he assured. “You’ll have a rollercoaster of emotions — and don’t judge yourself.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex tied the knot in May 2018. After Archie in May 2019, they welcomed their daughter, Princess Lilibet, in June 2021.
But Harry also acknowledged that he will be able to have conversations with Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4, that “never existed” between him and his own parents, King Charles and the late Princess Diana.
The duke and Charles, 77, remain estranged amid tension and drama following Harry and Markle’s departure as working royals in 2020.
Princess Diana tragically died in a car accident in Paris in August 1997 when Harry was just 12 years old.
“With the world the way that it goes, the kids that we bring up in today’s world need to be an upgrade,” Harry explained, although he noted that he isn’t “an upgrade of [his] dad or that [his] kids are an upgrade of [him].”
Harry’s rep did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Elsewhere during the event this week, the “Spare” author praised Movember, which is a global charity created in Melbourne in 2003.
It focuses on men’s health and aims to bring awareness to issues like prostate and testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention, per the charity’s website.
Harry and Markle touched down in Australia for a faux-royal tour on Tuesday.
Besides visiting Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital and gathering with veterans at the Australian National Veterans’ Art Museum, the former actress made time to make a special guest appearance on “MasterChef Australia.”
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