Prince Harry played tourist in Los Angeles with his “local” tour guide, James Corden. The Duke of Sussex toured the City of Angels on board an open top bus on Thursday’s episode of The Late Late Show. “This is subtle. Where’s the Range Rover?” Harry asked. James told his royal pal that the bus is a “nice way to see L.A.,” before instructing Queen Elizabeth ’s grandson to pay the fare. “You know, us royals, we don’t carry cash,” Harry quipped.
Once onboard, the Duke said, “This is very nice. It’s the first time I’ve been on an open top bus.” Harry noted that he was “not really allowed to” get on them in London. He said, “In London I always see them cruising around tourists, and thought that would be really good fun because when you live in an area, you never actually go sightseeing. I’ve always wanted to go sightseeing.”
The Late Late Show segment was filmed prior to Buckingham Palace announcing that Harry and Meghan Markle ’s honorary military appointments and royal patronages would be returned to Her Majesty. During his afternoon with James, Prince William ’s brother opened up about his decision to step back as a senior member of the royal family.
“It was never walking away,” Harry shared. “It was stepping back rather than stepping down. It was a really difficult environment, as I think a lot of people saw. We all know what the British press can be like, and it was destroying my mental health. I was like, ‘This is toxic,’ so I did what any husband and what any father would do. I was like, ‘I need to get my family out of here.’”
He continued, “We never walked away. And as far as I’m concerned, whatever decisions are made on that side, I will never walk away. I will always be contributing, but my life is public service, so wherever I am in the world, it’s going to be the same thing.”
Envisioning what his life will be like out of lockdown in the US, Harry said, “I have no idea. A slightly different version, but a continuation of what we were doing back in the U.K. anyway.”
“My life is always going to be about public service and Meghan signed up to that and the two of us enjoy doing that,” the Duke added. “Trying to bring some compassion and trying to make people happy and trying to change the world in any small way that we can.”