Prince Harry Compares Growing Up in the Royal Family to ‘Living in a Zoo’

Prince Harry didn’t mince words during his recent appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast. Hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman chatted with him about growing up in the royal family—and when asked what it was like to be part of “a tiny group” of royals that are “watched by millions,” the Duke of Sussex spoke candidly of his experiences.

Prince Harry compared it to being “a mix between The Truman Show and living in a zoo.” In case you’re not familiar, that movie follows Truman Burbank (played by Jim Carrey), who is completely unaware his life is part of a massive TV set. The executive producer, Christof (played by Ed Harris), attempts to control Truman’s mind, but over time Truman gradually discovers the truth.

Prince Harry continued, “It’s the job, right? Grin and bear it. Get on with it. 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. Look what it did to my mum [Princess Diana]. How am I ever going to settle down and have a wife and family, when I know it’s going to happen again?”

He added, “Once I started doing therapy, it was like the bubble was burst. I plucked my head out of the sand and gave it a good shake off, and I was like, You’re in this position of privilege; stop complaining and stop thinking you want something different. Make this different—because you can’t get out.”

Ultimately he and Markle stepped down from being senior royals and moved to America to raise their family and establish organizations like Archewell to continue their philanthropy efforts.

Prince Harry said he’d asked himself, “How are you going to do these things differently, how are you going to make your mum proud and use this platform to really effect change?”