10 Things We Learnt From Prince Harry's Interview With James Corden

While getting settled in to their sightseeing trip, Harry revealed it was his first time on an open-top bus. “I’m not really allowed to,” he explained to Corden. “When I was in London I always saw them cruising around with tourists and I thought, ‘You know what? That would be really fun’, because when you live in an area, you never really go sightseeing. I’ve always wanted to go sightseeing.”

After stepping back as senior members of the Royal Family, and spending some time in Vancouver, Canada, it was confirmed that Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and little Archie had settled in Santa Barbara, north of Los Angeles, in July 2020. However, due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, Harry admitted he hasn’t spent a lot of time in LA since he moved to California, due to the lockdown. “This is the first time I’ve had a chance to see LA,” he laughs in the video.

At one point Corden decides that Harry and Meghan should have a “base” in LA, revealing the house from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to be the “perfect house” for him. “If it's good enough for the Fresh Prince, it's good enough for a real prince,” says Corden, before the friends embark on their own rendition of Will Smith’s famous rap from the Fresh Prince theme song… if the flat cap fits.

Corden makes a video call to Meghan to ask her opinion on the house – “You’d be the Fresh Princess of Bel Air,” says Corden. Meghan takes that opportunity to catch up on her husband’s day, revealing a cute nickname. “Haz, how’s your tour of LA going?” she asks. Corden says: “I didn’t know we were calling you ‘Haz’ now,” to which he responded “well you’re not my wife.” Touché!

Prince Harry also revealed some really sweet details about the beginning of his relationship with Meghan Markle. Telling Corden how he knew she was “the one” on their second date, Harry said he “started to think: ‘wow this is something really special.’”

“It wasn't so much where we went but the fact we hit it off with each other, and we were just so comfortable in each other's company,” he added. “Dating me or any member of the Royal Family is kind of flipped upside down, all the dates become dinners or watching the TV or chatting at home… We went from zero to 60 in the first two months.” N’awwww!

Harry mentions to Corden that he and Meghan might watch Jeopardy! or Netflix on a typical evening, once Archie is in bed. Of course, you can’t mention Netflix without asking what Harry’s thoughts might be on the royal drama The Crown, now in its fifth series. “They don’t pretend to be news – it's fictional – but it's loosely based on the truth.”

“Of course it's not strictly accurate, but it's based on the truth,” he explained. “It gives you a rough idea about that lifestyle, and the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, and what can come from that.”

Although the series has only just started to cover the early years of his life in season four, Harry revealed that he is “way more comfortable with The Crown” than the stories written about him and his family in the press. “[The Crown] is obviously fiction, take it how you will,”he added, “but [the stories are] being reported as fact, because you’re supposedly news.”

Prince Harry also revealed – without hesitation – that he would like Damien Lewis to play him in the series (well, he actually says Daniel Lewis, before being corrected by Corden, but we’ll forgive him), to which Corden replied “Great shout!” Reckon the Homeland actor would be up for it?

It seems like Meghan and Harry may have a royal genius on their hands. In true proud Dad fashion, along with revealing that Archie is “hysterical” and has an “amazing personality”, Harry revealed that his 18-month-old son is already putting “three or four-word sentences together” and that his first word was “crocodile”. Quite the intelligent young royal, then.

Prince Harry also shared a lovely story about what his grandmother – that’s the Queen of England to you and me, in case you had forgotten – bought Archie for Christmas. Meg, as Harry calls her, suggested she get Archie a waffle maker, and so the Queen sent one. I can’t quite imagine Her Majesty popping to Argos to get a waffle maker, and I'm not the only one.

“Hang on, Corden says, slightly baffled. “You’re glossing over the fact that I cannot for the life of me imagine the Queen ordering a waffle maker to be sent to Santa Barbara. I can’t get my head around it.” Harry responded “I don’t even know how to comment on that.”

When asked if the Queen can “do a Zoom” by Corden, Harry revealed that “both my grandparents” are au fait with handling video calls, although Prince Philip hasn’t quite perfected the art of finishing the call. “We’ve Zoomed them a few times, they’ve seen Archie running around,” said Harry, explaining that instead of pressing “leave” at the end of a call, his grandfather simply closes the laptop.

The pair take on a military assault course at the end of the segment to take Harry back to his roots, says Corden, and it seems that Harry hasn’t lost touch with the tough military training he underwent to become a Lieutenant in the British Army. Harry tackles wall jumps, mud crawls, and rope climbs without breaking a sweat, making it look easy and even making jokes at Corden’s expense along the way. “You’ve been in LA too long James,” he jokes as Corden hesitates to make the mud crawl. “Just think of it as a facial!”