The Duke of Sussex said he was a "witness" to his wife, Meghan, "creating life"
Credit: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- Prince Harry reflected on feeling disconnected as a new dad when he and Meghan Markle became parents
- Speaking at a Movember event in Melbourne during his Australia trip with his wife, the Duke of Sussex credited therapy with helping him prepare for fatherhood
- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are parents to Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4
Prince Harry reflected on the "disconnection" he felt during his first days as a dad during his trip to Australia.
The Duke of Sussex, 41, opened up at a fatherhood event hosted by Movember on April 14, looking back at his transition into parenthood. Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, share son Prince Archie, 6, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 4.
Harry shared that there could be a "disconnection" in the first days of fatherhood, explaining, "Certainly I felt a disconnection because my wife was the one creating life, and I was there to witness it."
Credit: Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty
Prince Archie was born in London in May 2019, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex later stepped back from their working royal roles in January 2020. The family then moved to California, where Princess Lilibet was born in June 2021.
Harry also addressed how therapy helped him before he had children during the conversation on stage with Movember's global director of men's health research, Dr. Zac Seidler.
"Certainly, from a therapy standpoint, you want to be the best version of yourself for your kids. 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," he said.
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He then revealed the advice that helped him prepare for fatherhood, which he said came from his therapist in the U.K.
"I think the biggest tip that I was given from my therapist in the U.K. was just be aware of how you feel once the baby is born," he said.
Prince Harry, a dedicated mental health advocate who has previously spoken about how therapy has helped him, elsewhere said there were "conversations that are now happening in households between kids and parents that never existed between me and my parents." The Duke of Sussex, the younger son of King Charles and the late Princess Diana, outlined how he thinks today's children are an "upgrade" of their parents.
"From my perspective, our kids are our upgrade. That's not how I was taught, but that was my take on it — not to say I was an upgrade of my dad or that my kids are an upgrade of me," said Harry. "That's the approach that I take, to know that with the world the way that it goes, the kids that we bring up in today's world need to be an upgrade."
Credit: Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty
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The Duke of Sussex spoke before an audience of Movember supporters and their children on the second day of his trip to Australia with Meghan, 44. The Melbourne-founded Movember is a global charity focused on improving men's health with special attention to mental health, suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer, and he hit the stage as the organization launched new fatherhood research, "More Than a Provider: Australian Fathers on Health, Identity and Experiences of Parenthood."
The event was held at the headquarters of the Western Bulldogs, a professional Australian rules football club. Harry was given souvenirs to take home for his children — two pint-sized Bulldogs jerseys personalized with "Archie" and "Lilibet" — and hinted to PEOPLE that his kids were fans of The Wiggles!
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's children didn't join their trip to Australia, where the couple is undertaking a slate of private, business and philanthropic engagements this week.
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