Prince William 'doesn't feel trapped' by royal life and 'gets what his destiny is'

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During Prince Harry's new mental health documentary series, The Me You Can't See, the Duke of Sussex spoke candidly to US chat show host Oprah about the difficulties he faced in the spotlight, his fears for returning to the UK for Prince Philip's funeral and the impact of losing his mother, the late Princess Diana, at a young age.

He also discussed his decision to step away from royal life, revealing he felt 'bullied into silence' while his wife, Meghan Markle, was struggling with her mental health.

He said: 'Certainly now I will never be bullied into silence. I thought my family would help, but every single ask, request, warning, whatever it is, just got met with total silence, total neglect.

'We spent four years trying to make it work. We did everything that we possibly could to stay there and carry on doing the role and doing the job. But Meghan was struggling.'

He added: 'That feeling of being trapped within the family, there was no option to leave. Eventually when I made that decision for my family, I was still told, "You can't do this", and it's like, "Well how bad does it have to get until I am allowed to do this?"

'She was going to end her life. It shouldn't have to get to that.'

During an interview with Oprah earlier this year, Harry spoke about feeling 'trapped', claiming that his brother, Prince William, and father, Prince Charles also faced restrictions, telling the host: 'I myself was trapped. I didn't see a way out. I was trapped but I didn't know I was trapped... trapped within the system, like the rest of my family are.

'My father and my brother, they are trapped. They don't get to leave.'

However, royal author Penny Junor - who wrote Prince William: The Man Who Will Be King - believes that William doesn't feel trapped by royal life.

Talking to The Sun, she said: 'I think he absolutely gets what his destiny is and he is embracing it. He is modelling himself on his grandmother the Queen.'

The Me You Can't See is available to watch on AppleTV+.

Jadie Troy-Pryde
News Editor

Jadie Troy-Pryde is News Editor, covering celebrity and entertainment, royal, lifestyle and viral news. Before joining the team in 2018 as the Lifestyle and Social Media Editor, she worked at a number of women’s fashion and lifestyle titles including Grazia, Women’s Health and Stylist, and now heads the Marie Claire UK news desk.