Prince Harry’s journalist pal Tom Bradby has admitted the Duke is “heartbroken by the situation with his family”.
The broadcaster joined Harry and his wife Meghan Markle on their tour of southern Africa in 2019, where he filmed the ITV documentary ‘Harry & Meghan: An African Journey’.
The documentary featured emotional interviews with the couple, including the memorable moment Tom asked Meghan if she was “ok” following months of public scrutiny.
“Not many people have asked if I’m ok … it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”
Meghan reveals to ITV’s @tombradby the intense media spotlight has left her struggling to cope while becoming a mum #HarryAndMeghan https://t.co/Uy21iE6ozJ pic.twitter.com/kZqhZV66OL
— ITV News (@itvnews) October 18, 2019
During an upcoming appearance on ITV’s Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh, Tom spoke about filming the documentary with Harry and Meghan.
The 54-year-old said: “It was a very psychologically complex project because they were clearly in a difficult position and weren’t feeling great and I realized the extent of that the more I was there.”
When asked if he thinks the couple seem happier since they moved to Los Angeles last year, Tom said: “I think they are feeling better, yes… So are they unhappy? No, I think they are content, the things they are doing they are quite excited by.”
“I think he is heartbroken by the situation with his family, you don’t necessarily need to have knowledge to know that, but I think it is true.”
“The situation with the family clearly isn’t ideal and it has been a very difficult year for them all,” he continued.
“But are they unhappy out there? No, I don’t think that’s right, I think they are pretty happy actually, but I think they wrestle with their position in life, I think they all do. I think William does too, I don’t think he finds it easy.”
“I think the whole thing has just been incredibly painful, that is obvious to everyone. It is painful all round, painful for everyone, difficult to manage.”
“Effectively they have just decided to completely leave the royal family, that has never been done – I mean, you could go back to the Duke of Windsor but that was in very different circumstances – it’s never been done voluntarily before and no one still is absolutely clear how it is going to work.”
“There are still a lot of hurt feelings on all sides and it’s very difficult… I think the public desperately wants them to be okay and everyone to be happy and clearly that hasn’t been the situation over the past year,” he explained.
“It is not a very easy or comfortable situation, I don’t think it was ever going to be an easy or comfortable situation.”
“You have got to remember this isn’t just a family, it’s a firm. They are in the business of public service on a very elevated, exposed platform and to some extent, they are all locked in it together,” Tom said.
“And that creates lots of tensions that people perhaps do see relatively clearly from the outside, but at the same time they are trying to be a family and I am always acutely conscious of that and how complicated and frankly difficult it is.”
Harry and Meghan announced their decision to step down as senior members of the Royal family in a shock statement last January.
According to royal biography Finding Freedom, the couple were “barely speaking” to Prince William and Kate Middleton at the final engagement in March.
However, it appears distance has been good for both couples, as they recently exchanged Christmas presents, and Meghan and Harry surprised Kate with gifts on her 39th birthday last weekend.
