7 Big Takeaways From Prince Harry's 'Armchair Expert' Appearance

- Celebrity News -
7 Big Takeaways From Prince Harry's 'Armchair Expert' Appearance

Prince Harry might not be a working member of the British Royal Family anymore, but he's definitely earned a spot as the King of American pop culture as far as I'm concerned. Sorry, UK, we claim him. Harry is American now. And I'm not just saying this because Harry opened his appearance on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard by calling out Joe Rogan's irresponsible COVID-19 vaccine "advice." (Though, yeah, that's pretty hot.)

Prince Harry appeared on Dax Shepard's podcast Thursday, May 13, to promote his new Apple TV+ show The Me You Can't See. And, being the good Prince that he is, he also talked a bit about what being in the Royal Family is really like — a mix of "The Truman Show and living in a zoo" — his early dates with Meghan Markle, and dealing with paparazzi as a dad. Here are the biggest takeaways:

He's Thought About Leaving The Royal Family Since His 20s

There's a narrative out there that Meghan Markle is the reason Harry decided to step down from the Royal Family, but the fact is that he's wanted out for a long time. "I was in my early 20s and I was thinking I don't want this job, I don't want to be here. I don't want to be doing this," he recalled. "Look what it did to my mum. How am I ever going to settle down and have a wife and family, when I know it's going to happen again?"

Meghan Was The One Who Encouraged Him To Go To Therapy

Image: CBS/YouTube

Despite losing his mother at a young age, and, one assumes, having plenty of resources, Harry actually didn't really go to therapy until Meghan suggested it. "She saw it. She saw it straight away. She could tell that I was hurting and that some of the stuff that was out of my control was making me really angry. It would make my blood boil," he said. "And then once I started doing theray it was like the bubble was burst."

His First London Date With Meghan Markle Was At A Grocery Store

"The first time that Meghan and I met up for her to come and stay with me, we met up in a supermarket in London, pretending that we didn't know each other, texting each other from the other side of aisles," Harry revealed. And, as cute as that is, my favorite part of this story is that Harry had no idea what parchment paper was. "I texted her saying, 'Is this the right one?' And she said, 'No, you want parchment paper.' And I'm like, 'Where's the parchment paper?'"

I love when celebrities reveal they don't know about totally normal things — he also expressed surprise at all the gum available in stores. Excellent!

He & Orlando Bloom Are On Paparazzi Watch

Speaking about dealing with the paparazzi here in the U.S., Harry confirmed that things have eased up since he and Meghan moved out of L.A., but they still struggled with keeping the photogs away from their young son. Luckily, he has an ally in Orlando Bloom, who apparently lives right down the street. "We sort of keep in contact because of the paparazzi," Harry said, revealing that just a few days ago, the actor tipped him off to a paparazzo laying down in the back of a pickup truck, with a decoy driver taking him around the area to take pictures.

The 3 Times Harry Has Felt Helpless

Harry called feeling helpless his "Achilles heel," and recounted the three times in his life that he's felt the most helpless: "One, when I was in the back of the car with my mom being chased by paparazzi; two was in Afghanistan in an Apache helicopter; and then the third one was with my wife."

The Most Normalizing Experience Of His Life

[rich Embed]

Reflecting on his military experience, which included two tours in Afghanistan, Harry said it was "as normal" as his life could get at the time. "I loved it. I loved wearing the same uniform as everybody else. I loved being treated the same," he said. "It was the most normalizing experience or job that I could ever have hoped for."

The Key To Life

At the end of the podcast, Harry stressed that mental health was a spectrum, and it's not just important to take care of when you desperately need help. Though he said he didn't "need" therapy anymore, he keeps going because he enjoys it. "Go searching for the things that make you feel good about yourself," he said. "That's the key to life. Get rid of the bad stuff, get rid of the hate, and just focus on the good. And your whole life turns around from that."

Bonus takeaway: I regret to inform you that Prince Harry is actually very funny and enjoyed taking digs at Dax Shepard, which only makes me love him more. You can listen to the whole episode here.

Read more...

10 Questions I Still Have After That Explosive Meghan & Harry Interview

Our Pop Chaser Podcast Tackles Million Dollar Listing, Zillow Stalking, & Bird Deaths

8 Things We Learned From Colton Underwood's Variety Interview

Image: Armchair Expert

Join For Free
Sign up for a free account on our new, female-founded site to personalize your feed and get access to our community and conversations.

Discover More