Britain’s Prince Harry got so sick of the royal treatment during his 20s that he considered living as a commoner — but stayed on for the Queen, he says in a new interview.
“I spent many years kicking [up] my heels and I didn’t want to grow up,” he tells Newsweek’s Angela Levin.
Harry, now 32, led a hard-partying life and told Levin he came “very close to a breakdown” several times and, on his brother’s advice, sought counseling when he was 28. He felt most at home in the Army, but when his assignment in Afghanistan was leaked by a magazine, he had to be withdrawn for security reasons.
“I felt very resentful,” he said. “Being in the Army was the best escape I’ve ever had.” While in the Army, he said, “I wasn’t a prince. I was just Harry.”
He also said he doesn’t think anyone in the royal family wants to be king or queen, but instead does so out of duty. Which… I feel like his dad really wants to be Kind, but whatevs.
On Megan Markle, the Prince is still protective, but a person close to the prince says Harry is not rushing to “get things done”—royal-speak for proposing.