Prince Harry Wants Archie & Lilibet To Have 'Relationships' With Royal Family Members: 'I Would Love Nothing More'
While Prince Harry's relationships with his family members may be fractured, he is making sure that of his children's with the royals remains in tact.
"I've said before that I've wanted a family, not an institution — so of course, I would love nothing more than for our children to have relationships with members of my family, and they do with some, which brings me great joy," Harry said in a new cover story, despite the current dynamic of his and Meghan Markle's relationships with the Duke of Sussex's relatives.
Harry and the American actress — they share children Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 19 months — have been at odds with the prestigious family long before they decided to step back from their senior royal duties in 2020 to start new lives in California.
Ever since embarking on this next chapter of their life, the controversial couple has been dragging royal members' names through the mud, including King Charles III, Queen Consort Camilla, Prince William and Kate Middleton — with Harry dropping his latest slew of bombshells in his memoir, Spare, out Tuesday, January 10.
As for what he wants the royal family's takeaway to be from his jaw-dropping tell-all, the author explained in his new interview, "I want people to read my memoir and come to their own conclusions."
"I don't want to tell anyone what to think of it and that includes my family. This book and its truths are in many ways a continuation of my own mental health journey," the father-of-two continued. "It's a raw account of my life — the good, the bad and everything in between."
From recounting a physical altercation with the heir to accusing him and his wife of taking part in his 2005 Nazi costume controversy and spilling family drama out onto his Spare pages, Harry didn't mince words when disclosing what life was really like behind palace walls.
Nevertheless, since walking away from his royal life, Harry has wanted his children to know his family and homeland.
After Harry and Meghan were stripped of their taxpayer-funded protection in light of Megxit, he pleaded for police protection when returning to the U.K. so his kids could safely visit the country he called home.
Harry was so determined for protection — given he had "inherited a security risk at birth, for life," as his lawyer previously argued — that he offered to pay for police protection himself, but the British government shut his request down.
Though Archie lived in the U.K. for the early months of his life, Lilibet, who was born in June 2022, has yet to meet her royal relatives in England.
The red-headed prince sought a judicial review in September 2022, according to NBC News, to challenge the decision-making behind the security procedures.
Harry spoke to People about his hopes for his children.
