Prince Harry has jokingly compared growing up as a royal to the classic ITV drama Downton Abbey, which was written by Julian Fellowes. The Duke of Sussex made the candid remarks during a networking event in Los Angeles.
Delivering his keynote speech at the event, Harry said: "People sometimes ask if growing up with the royal family was a bit like Julian's Downton Abbey. Yeah, but only one of those worlds is filled with drama, intrigue, elaborate dinners, marriages to Americans, and the other is a TV show."
The father-of-two also joked US independence, the difference in drinking culture between the US and the UK in regard to next year's FIFA World Cup and being forced to wear a kilt when he was a child.
Joking about next year's sporting event, he said: "Next year, we are all welcoming many more fellow Brits from across the pond, provided they behave, and that they make it through customs, past ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The World Cup is coming to the US… both England and Scotland have qualified – it's a Christmas miracle!"
In a more moving part of his speech, he touched upon the bond between the United States and the United Kingdom, and praised American servicepeople whom he served alongside in Afghanistan.
"Truly, this anniversary is a chance to reflect on how far our relationship has come, from historic tensions, to one of the closest partnerships anywhere in the world," he said. "And back to historic tensions, just like that. That partnership is deeply personal to me.
"Not only because my family and my life are here today, but because of the extraordinary American servicemen and women I've had the honour of serving alongside in Afghanistan. Our two nations' bond rests on centuries of friendship, shared values, innovation and mutual prosperity."
Reflecting on childhood
In his memoir, Spare, which was released in January 2023, Harry recounted some of his childhood memories of spending time in Balmoral, which was the favourite place of his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
"Balmoral had fifty bedrooms, one of which had been divided for me and Willy," he penned. "Adults called it the nursery. Willy had the larger half, with a double bed, a good-sized basin, a cupboard with mirrored doors, a beautiful window looking down on the courtyard, the fountain, the bronze statue of a roe deer buck.
"My half of the room was far smaller, less luxurious. I never asked why. I didn't care. But I also didn't need to ask. Two years older than me, Willy was the Heir, whereas I was the Spare."
In another memory, the father-of-two wrote: "Whenever Granny headed up to her bedroom on the second floor, corgis at her heels, she preferred the lift. The corgis preferred it too. Near Granny's lift, through a pair of crimson saloon doors and along a green tartan floor, was a smallish staircase with a heavy iron banister; it led up to the second floor, where stood a statue of Queen Victoria. I always bowed to her as I passed."