Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made the shocking announcement back in 2020 that they were quitting their roles as senior working royals. Shortly after, they moved over to the US to start a new life as a family with Prince Archie, and welcomed Princess Lillibet.
Less than two years after the news the Duke and Duchess were stepping down, they moved to California and then came their bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview about the monarchy.
Their Netflix docuseries in 2022 and Harry's memoir Spare, released earlier this year, only added fuel to the ongoing fire and increased tensions between the pair and the rest of his family. The Duke's memoir laid bare his frustrations at life as a royal.
And now, according to new reports in the Mirror, it seems Harry might have let slip that all was not well three years prior to his exit from working royal life and the UK.
The Duke of Sussex admitted he once "wanted out" of 'the firm' and had long desired an "ordinary life" for himself in an interview that has resurfaced from back in 2017.
In a chat, later reported in the Mail On Sunday, Harry, then aged 32, explained his struggles but that he ultimately decided to stick at the role thanks to one relative.
He reportedly said: "I spent many years kicking my heels and I didn't want to grow up."
"I felt I wanted out but then decided to stay in and work out a role for myself," he added, revealing he was motivated by his loyalty to his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth, who sadly died last September at the age of 96.
During the same interview, which came just a year after he met Meghan, Harry also spoke of his future wishes for himself and his children, whom he hoped to have one day and settle down with.
"I am determined to have a relatively normal life and if I am lucky enough to have children they can have one too," Harry insisted.
Meanwhile, it has now been discovered that around the same time of the interview back in 2017, Harry and William had a secret meeting with their late mother's butler Paul Burrell.
It has been claimed the brothers met with Paul a week before Harry announced his engagement to Meghan.
A source has said that Paul, 64, "shed some light on their memories" of their late mother Princess Diana in a very "low-key meeting".
The former butler, who also served as a footman for the late Queen, was known to be a confidante to Diana - as she called him a "rock,"
We previously reported an inside look at the I'm A Celeb star's house, which is decorated with many fond memorabilia from his time at Buckingham Palace, including a slice of Diana's framed wedding cake.
But following her tragic death in Paris in 1997 at the age of only 36, Paul wrote a book about her much to her son's dismay and it was thought until now that they last spoke to him after Diana's funeral, when they were aged 12 and 15.
The Sun's royal source said: "It was a very low-key meeting but the brothers wanted to speak to someone who had been close to their mother.
"There were some aspects of her life they felt Paul could provide better clarity on. They asked to keep it all under wraps and he respected that. Paul was happy to tell them everything he knew and shed some light on their memories."
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