Dr. Jane Goodall gave some insight into her friend Prince Harry’s new life in an interview released earlier this week.
The primatologist said that the Duke of Sussex, who recently stepped back from the royal family and relocated to Los Angeles, is finding his new life “a bit challenging.”
“I don’t know how his career is going to map out, but yes, I’ve been in touch, though I think he’s finding life a bit challenging just now,” Goodall told Radio Times in an interview released Tuesday. While that could be a reference to Harry and Meghan Markle’s new life, the prince might also be talking about the fact that his father, Prince Charles, recently tested positive for, and is recovering from, the coronavirus.
The interviewer later brought up the prince again and added that Harry and his brother, Prince William, are “champions of the natural world.”
Goodall said that both brothers “hunt and shoot” but added, “I think Harry will stop because Meghan doesn’t like hunting, so I suspect that is over for him.”
In a previous interview with Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine, Goodall said that Harry alluded to his royal exit many months ago, when she got to visit with the duke and duchess and meet their son, Archie, just after his birth.
“He was very tiny and very sleepy — not too pleased to be passed from his mummy,” she said. “I think I was one of the first to cuddle him outside the family.”
The 86-year-old said she “made Archie do the queen’s wave, saying, ‘I suppose he’ll have to learn this.’ Harry said, ‘No, he’s not growing up like that.’”
Both Harry and the queen have said in the past that the couple’s royal exit was discussed over many months.
Harry recently spoke about little Archie and having lots of “family time” during the coronavirus pandemic in a video call over the weekend with caregivers who belong to the UK-based charity Wellchild. The prince is a longtime patron of the organization, which supports children with serious illnesses and their parents.
“There’s a hell of a lot of positives that are happening at the same time and being able to have family time — so much family time — that you almost think, ‘Do I feel guilty for having so much family time?’” the duke said to smiles and laughs on the call.
“You’ve got to celebrate those moments where you are just on the floor rolling around in hysterics,” he continued. “Inevitably, half an hour later, maybe a day later, there’s going to be something that you have to deal with and there’s no way that you can run away from it.”
Both Harry and Meghan are continuing their charity work both in the UK and in their new home, Los Angeles.
On Wednesday, Town & Country reported that the couple contributed over $100,000 in excess profits from their BBC wedding broadcast to the UK charity Feeding Britain.
The couple is “delighted to be able to ensure this money is donated to such a great cause,” a spokesperson for the Sussexes told HuffPost.
Meghan and Harry were also spotted in the West Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles on Wednesday, helping deliver meals on behalf of the charity Project Angel Food.
“They wanted to help us relieve some of the drivers from their workload,” Project Angel Food’s Executive Director Richard Ayou told local publication WeHoVille. “So they made deliveries in West Hollywood today. It’s really, really amazing. We loved having them and they are the most down-to-earth people.”
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