Prince Harry Opens Up About The One Instinct He Cannot Control On His Hardest Days As A Father — But The Reason Behind It Is Touching Royal Fans Around The World

Prince Harry has “extra tight” hugs for his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, on tough days.

The Duke of Sussex made the revelation on an episode of the Joe Marler Will See You Now podcast released on July 13 about the two kids he shares with Meghan Markle: 7-year-old son Archie and 5-year-old daughter Lilibet.

The comment came up as Harry and host Joe Marler spoke about coping with trauma, and the retired England rugby union player said that he is inspired by the resilience of his four kids.

“Yes, I think you’re absolutely right. And also, kids remind you not to take yourself too seriously as well,” said the Duke of Sussex, 41.

“The resilience of kids is amazing, and the way that they view life is so incredibly refreshing. If a day is hard, one thing I will do is always squeeze my kids that extra, extra tight,” he added.

Prince Harry shared a similar tidbit over the weekend while attending Scotty’s Summer Festival at Maxstoke Castle on July 11, supporting the event thrown by the Scotty’s Little Soldiers charity he backs as patron.

Former British Army captain Harry is the Global Ambassador of the British charity working to support bereaved military children and got candid when a 9-year-old girl named Poppy asked, “What makes you laugh when you’ve had a difficult day?”

“That got me right there,” the Duke of Sussex said as he patted his heart. “You know what, sometimes it’s just a difficult day. It’s not always possible to laugh. But my dog makes me laugh, my children make me laugh. And if I need to laugh, I’ll probably put something really funny on the television.”

Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet had a landmark reunion with King Charles and Queen Camilla late last week, meeting with them on Friday, July 10.

The reunion was momentous as Meghan and the children’s first time seeing Harry’s father and stepmother in person in four years, as they last got together in the summer of 2022 when the family was in England for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.

No photos or further details were released from the meeting, which was considered a private family occasion and quietly hosted at Highgrove House, the King’s private country residence in Gloucestershire.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who moved to California in 2020 after stepping back as working members of the royal family, originally planned to visit his homeland as a family in early July. However, plans changed after an explosive back-and-forth with the palace about security arrangements. Prince Harry ultimately continued with the trip’s planned itinerary — a series of charitable events for his Invictus Games and other philanthropies — alone, and the Scotty’s festival was his final public appearance of the week.

Elsewhere on the Joe Marler Will See You Now podcast episode that dropped Monday, Harry listed “Prince of England” as part of his occupation, in addition to “Full-time dad,” “British Army veteran” and “Duke.”

Prince Harry and Meghan, 44, retained the Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles that his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth bestowed on them when they wed in 2018, and the couple continues use that styling.