Harry and Meghan Australia Tour 2026: Prince Harry needed to ‘cleanse myself of the past’ before becoming a father

Prince Harry has opened up about fatherhood during a visit to the Western Bulldogs headquarters at Mission Whitten Oval in Melbourne.

The Duke of Sussex spoke to a small audience during a Movember question-and-answer session on Wednesday, revealing that he had to “cleanse myself of the past” before becoming a father.

The father of two was quick to add: “No finger is pointing” at his own mother, Princess Dianaor his estranged father, King Charlessaying that parenting has changed over the generations.

“From a therapy perspective, you want to be the best version of yourself for your children,” the 41-year-old said.

“And I knew I had things from the past that I needed to deal with, and so I prepared myself to basically cleanse myself of the past.”

Now father of a six year old Prince Archie and four years old Princess Lilibethe said that each new generation should be an ‘upgrade’ of the previous one

“I see parenting evolving over time,” he added.

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“I think that’s always been the case, just like from my perspective, our kids are our upgrade. That’s not how I learned it, but that was my perspective on it.

“The reality is that no matter how you parent, it’s a personal experience for you, you’re going to want to improve on that.

“Obviously, social media didn’t exist 40 years ago, so that’s just one example of the conversations that are happening now in households between children and parents, that never existed between me and my parents.”

Harry also opened up about the days after the birth of his son Archie in May 2019, saying he felt “helpless” after wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, gave birth.

“Definitely, I felt a disconnect because my wife was the one who created life, and I was there to witness it,” he said.

“And I think for a lot of guys you’re trying to think about what service can I provide at this point because my job here is done to some extent.”

He revealed that his friends warned him about this feeling in advance and that that “helped me a lot” in the early days, so he focused on Meghan instead.

“I thought, ‘Okay, if I can’t help him, I’m going to help my wife. I’m going to help my mom, and I’m going to consistently provide a little bit more,'” he said.

Harry added that expectant fathers need to know they are not alone if they feel this way.

“To the fathers and fathers-to-be: yes, it is messy. You will experience a rollercoaster of emotions – and don’t judge yourself,” he said.

The Duke praised charities such as Movember, which led the development of men speaking out about such things, which would not have happened in decades.

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Prince Harry also kicked around with members of the Bulldogs, where they were also joined by members of The Wiggles on the solo outing, while the Duchess of Sussex filmed a guest appearance on TV series. Masterchef Australia.

The former member of the British Army, who completed two tours of Afghanistan, then traveled to Canberra on Wednesday evening for a solo outing at the Australian War Memorial.

Harry and Meghan are in Australia for a whirlwind four-day visit – a non-royal tour that is similarly tied to a number of charities, but unlike a royal tour also includes business endeavors for the former senior working members of the royal family.

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