James Corden and his team have revealed how they stole a march on Oprah by airing his antics with Prince Harry days before the prime-time interview that enraged Buckingham Palace.
In a wide-ranging chat released in February, the Duke of Sussex, 36, – or ‘Haz,’ as Corden called him – revealed he went from ‘zero to sixty’ with Meghan and how the pressures of living in London were ‘destroying my mental health.’
Corden elicited bombshells from the Duke, including the insistence that he ‘never walked away’ from the royal family and he did ‘what any husband or father would do’ by emigrating to Los Angeles.
Now his team have spoken on a video panel during a FYC event about how Prince Harry offered for years to ‘do something’ for the show.
The Hollywood Reporter told how producer Ben Winston said: ‘[Harry] said, “We’re coming out of lockdown, I’m in L.A., do you think we should plan something fun to almost cheer everybody up in a way”.’
James Corden and his team have revealed how they stole a march on Oprah by airing his antics with Prince Harry days before the prime-time interview that enraged Buckingham Palace
Speaking on a panel with Ru Paul about his CBS show, presenter James explained: ‘There was a certain time in London if you went out long enough and ended up drinking long enough, you’d probably bump into Prince Harry once in a while.’
He said he had ‘always been very, very fond of him’ and performed a 10 minute ‘bit’ at the royal wedding to Meghan in 2018.
The team continued to explain that Harry had since continually offered to ‘do something’ on the Late, Late Show.
After the Duke got in contact with the team in spring 2020, Winston said: ‘Obviously, as soon as you say something like that to us and our team, our brains go crazy.’
The Late, Late show team said Prince Harry offered for years to ‘do something’ for the programme
During the wide-ranging chat mostly carried out on an open-top bus, an off the leash Prince Harry decided open up to James about his relationship with Meghan, his son Archie and their decision to quit as frontline royals, saying the pressure of being in London was ‘destroying my mental health’, branding Britain’s media ‘toxic’.
Describing the couple’s decision he said: ‘It was never walking away. It was stepping back rather than stepping down. It was a really difficult environment, which I think a lot of people saw. So I did what any father or husband would do and thought: ‘How do I get my family out of there’. But we never walked away’.
And while the interview was carried out before the Queen stripped the Sussexes of their royal patronages, Harry appeared to know what was coming and said: ‘My life is public service, so wherever I am in the world it’s going to be the same thing.
‘As far as I’m concerned, whatever decisions are made on that side [in Britain], I will never walk away’.
During the highly personal interview, the Duke revealed he went from ‘zero to sixty’ with Meghan and how the pressures of living in London were ‘destroying my mental health’
He also revealed he has had Zoom calls with Prince Philip and Queen, who sent Archie a waffle maker for Christmas.
He described his son as ‘hysterical’, claiming his first word was ‘crocodile’. He also said he knew Meghan was ‘the one’ after two dates, describing their relationship as ‘0-60 in two months’.
At the time, critics questioned the timing of his TV appearance, released as the Queen gave a rare public statement encouraging all Britons to have the Covid-19 jab.
Others watching the film, where Harry complains about the media attention he received in the UK, urged him to ‘stop bl**dy whining’ and accused him of ‘re-writing history’ and ‘ignoring’ the multi-million dollar deals he has signed with Netflix and Spotify.
At the time, Royal expert Robert Jobson told BBC Breakfast: ‘Well he seems in a very chirpy mood, very happy…He’s talking candidly and James Corden’s asking the right questions.
Prince Harry also decided open up to James about his relationship with Meghan, his son Archie and their decision to quit as frontline royals, saying the pressure of being in London was ‘destroying my mental health’, branding Britain’s media ‘toxic’
‘But unfortunately, everything’s in timing, isn’t it? Just on the day that the queen has issued a very, very important message about the whole of the nation getting the jab, and her, and she feels it’s people’s duty to go and get it, that message has sort of been blurred a little bit again by Harry, the man who wants a private life, talking about his private life again.’
He added that the Duke appeared ‘hell bent talking about his private life.’
The interview became the first of many that the Duke of Sussex has given to US media about his and Meghan’s choice to step back from royal duty.
He went on to speak candidly about their life in the royal family in the Oprah Winfrey interview, before appearing on a podcast with Dax Shepherd.
He then launched a five-part mental health series in which he spoke extensively about royal life.
Many critics have questioned why he has continued to publicly air his grievances, while also insisting that he and Meghan be left to live their life in private.