Once you’re royalty, you’re always royalty.
It’s been six years since Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan took a step back from royal duties, but the Duke of Sussex is still grappling with the issue.
The “Spare” author on Friday responded to an ITV reporter’s applause when asked if she agreed with being described as “not a working royal”.
Prince Harry replied emphatically, “No.” “I will always be part of the royal family.”
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Ukraine with humanitarian demining organization HALO Trust, Prince Harry said there he was “doing what I was born to do and doing exactly that job”.
“I enjoy this work,” he said of his humanitarian work.
“It’s fun to be able to do these trips and be there to support the people I’ve met and the friends I’ve made,” he continued, adding that he wanted to draw attention to “issues that, for whatever reason, have been left out of the news in favor of something else.”
The 41-year-old’s royal visit marks the latest example of him following in the footsteps of his late mother, Princess Diana.
Princess Diana was particularly opposed to landmines, calling for an international ban on the devices and walking through active minefields in Angola in 1997. Prince Harry recreated that historic moment in 2025.
Regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022, and the recent war with Iran, Prince Harry said that “the vast majority of the world’s population wants an end to these conflicts” and “less conversations about war and more conversations about peace.”
Harry and Meghan, 44, announced in January 2020 that they would like to “carve out a new progressive role” while supporting the monarchy and “step back as ‘senior’ members of the royal family and strive to become financially independent.”
They said they planned to “balance their time” between Britain and North America while “continuing to respect their obligations” to the British Royal Family, the Commonwealth and their patrons.
Just over a year later, Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan were “unable to continue with the responsibilities and obligations that come with working life.”
“While we are all saddened by this decision, the Duke and Duchess remain much-loved members of the family,” the statement said.
The couple, who married in 2018 and have two children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, moved to California, Meghan’s home state.
For years, the royal rift between Prince Harry, his father King Charles, and brother Prince William has only widened thanks to projects such as Harry and Meghan’s explosive 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey and Harry’s 2023 memoir Spare.
