James Corden and Prince Harry on a double decker open-air bus in Los Angeles (photo: Youtube)
Cover James Corden and Prince Harry on a double decker open-air bus in Los Angeles (photo: Youtube)

James Corden hosted the expatriate prince in a non-Carpool Karaoke video special. Here are some things we learned from Prince Harry's first solo interview on American soil

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, kicked off a monthlong media blitz this morning with the Prince's first solo media interview on American soil. Harry joined talk show host James Corden on an open air double-decker bus for a non-Carpool Karaoke tour around Los Angeles with a few special pit stops in between—first in Brentwood at the Fresh Prince of Bel Air house and later at a military-inspired obstacle course where Harry got to demonstrate some of the skills he honed while in the army.

The royal duo, who last week decided that they would not be returning to working royal life while simultaneously revealing that Markle and Harry would sit for a no-holds-barred 90-minute interview special with Oprah Winfrey (airing on American network CBS on March 7), recently announced that they are expecting their second child. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved from the UK to Vancouver and, later, to Santa Barbara in early 2020, right as the country began lockdown in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. They have since signed deals with Netflix and Spotify rumoured to be valued around US$100 million and US$30 million,respectively.

Here are 11 things we learned about Prince Harry from his James Corden interview, the first solo interview given by the prince since he expatriated to the United States.

Related: Queen Elizabeth to Make TV Appearance Before Meghan Markle's Oprah Interview

1. Prince Harry has never been on a double-decker tour bus

"This is the first time I've been on an open-top bus," Prince Harry tells James Corden, after the duo board the Big Bus Tours bus in Los Angeles. "Not really allowed to. When I was in London I would see them cruising around with tourists. I was like: You know, that would be really good fun. When you live in an area, you never actually go sightseeing. I've always wanted to go sightseeing."

In fact, this jaunt around Los Angeles is Prince Harry's first chance to see the city since moving there right before the US-Canadian border shut down in early 2020. 

 

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James Corden and Prince Harry visit the house from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air (photo: YouTube)
Above James Corden and Prince Harry visit the house from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air (photo: YouTube)

2. Prince Harry takes his tea with milk and sugar

Corden has a tea trolley wheeled down the bus aisle. On it: tea cakes and scones, and a silver teapot. When Corden offers Harry tea with milk and sugar, Harry takes all the accoutrements. 

3. 'English Tea on the 405' could become a Netflix series (just kidding)

While sipping tea on the top of a double-decker bus driving down Los Angeles' iconic (infamous? notorious?) Interstate 405, Prince Harry jokes with James: "James, you've got Carpool Karaoke, maybe I could do English Tea on the 405."

To which Corden replies: "English Tea on the 405, why not. Get it on Netflix, an absolute winner," alluding to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Netflix deal.

"That'd be cool, that's an idea," Harry says. 

 

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James Corden and Prince Harry visit the house from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air (photo: YouTube)
Above James Corden and Prince Harry visit the house from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air (photo: YouTube)

4. Prince Harry knows all the words to the 'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' song

The duo's first stop on their tour of Los Angeles is in Brentwood, at the house that played the Banks' home in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, where Corden tries to convince Harry to buy the mansion so he can be a real prince living in the Fresh Prince's house but Harry is mostly interested in using the bathroom.

"I didn't expect that," Corden says. "I didn't expect a toilet break from the prince."

Corden calls Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, on Facetime, to ask her to buy the house.

"I think we've done enough moving," Markle says.

5. Prince Harry's nickname is "Haz"

When Corden Facetimes Markle, she asks: "How's the tour going, Haz?"

"Haz?" Corden says. "I didn't know we were calling you Haz now."

"You're not my wife," Harry retorts. "He's the worst tour guide in LA," he tells Markle.

6. When Prince Harry knew Meghan was The One

Prince Harry says he knew by their second date that Markle was The One.

"The second date I was starting to think, wow this was pretty special. It wasn't so much where we went, it was just, the fact, the way we hit it off with each other and we were just so comfortable in each others' company," Harry says.

"Dating with me, or with any member of the royal family, I guess, is kind of flipped upside down. All the dates become dinner or watching TV or chatting at home. And then eventually once you become a couple, then you venture out to dinners, to the cinema and everything else. So, everything was done back to front with us. So actually we got to spend an enormous amount of time, just the two of us, rather than going to friends' houses or out for dinner where there were other distractions. We went from zero to 60 in the first two months."

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James Corden and Prince Harry visit the house from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air (photo: YouTube)
Above James Corden and Prince Harry visit the house from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air (photo: YouTube)

7. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's nighttime routine

Prince Harry talked through a normal night at home: "We do Archie's tea, give him a bath, read him a book, put him down. Go downstairs. Meg might cook a meal, might order a takeaway, go upstairs, sit in bed, turn the TV on, watch some Jeopardy, maybe watch a little bit of Netflix."

8. Prince Harry doesn't mind the show 'The Crown'

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have long been embroiled in a difficult relationship with the press, and Harry brings that up when asked his opinion on The Crown.

"They don't pretend to be news," he says. "It's fictional, but it's loosely based on the truth. Of course it's not strictly accurate, but loosely it gives you an idea about that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that. I'm way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family, or my wife, or myself."

9. Prince Harry would like Damian Lewis to play him in 'The Crown'

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Prince Harry wants Damian Lewis to play him in 'The Crown' (photo: Getty Images)
Above Prince Harry wants Damian Lewis to play him in 'The Crown' (photo: Getty Images)

10. Archie's first word

Prince Harry's face lights up when Corden asks him how he's finding fatherhood. Harry reveals that Archie's first word was crocodile and that he asked Queen Elizabeth for a waffle maker for Christmas... so the queen sent Archie a waffle maker for Christmas. 

"I cannot for the life of me imagine the queen ordering a waffle maker to be sent to Santa Barbara," Corden says. 

11. Prince Harry left life as a working royal because of mental health

"It was never walking away," Harry tells Corden. "It was stepping back rather than stepping down. It was really difficult environment, as a lot of people say. We all know what the British press can be like and it was destroying my mental health. It was toxic. So I did what any husband and any father would do. I needed to get my family out of here. But we never walked away."

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