Prince Harry interview – live: Royal tells Hoda Kotb he’s ensuring Queen is ‘protected’ after secret visit with Meghan

Prince Harry has said he is making sure his mother Queen Elizabeth II is “protected” and has “the right people around her” following a recent secret visit to see her with Meghan markle.

In an upcoming interview with the American TV network NBC News, the Duke of Sussex said it was “just so nice” to see the Queen on only his third trip back to the UK since March 2020.

The wandering royal sat down with Hoda Kotb of NBC’s Today Show while in the Netherlands to attend the Invictus Games, with the full interview to be aired on Wednesday evening.

It comes just one year after the Duke’s explosive TV special with Oprah Winfrey alongside his wife Meghan Markle, the interview could cause further turbulence for the royal family.

Follow live updates below as we report the latest news from Prince Harry’s visit and learn more about what he said to NBC.

Key points so far

• Prince Harry says he’s making sure the Queen is ‘protected’

• California now feels more like home than the UK, Duke says

• Harry and Meghan Markle secretly had tea with Queen during visit to UK

• Queen was ‘on great form’ following recent brush with Covid-19

• Full interview to air on Wednesday night

Harry says he’s making sure Queen is ‘protected'

00:42 , Io Dodds

Prince Harry has revealed that he took the opportunity to make sure that his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, is “protected” and has the “right people around her” during his and Meghan Markle’s recent visit, Chelsea Ritschel reports.

Asked how it felt to be reunited with the Queen, Harry said: “I’m just making sure that she’s, you know, protected, and got the right people around her.”

Read Chelsea’s full story here.

California now feels like ‘home'

00:35 , Io Dodds

California now feels like “home” to Prince Harry, at least “for the time being”.

In preview footage from his interview with NBC’s Hoda Kotb, the Duke of Sussex said he had adjusted well to the Golden State, my colleague Chelsea Ritschel reports.

“Home for me now is, for the time being, it’s in the States,” Harry said. “And it feels that way as well. We’ve been welcomed with open arms.”

Your highness, I know the feeling.

First images of Harry’s new interview

00:20 , Io Dodds

Here’s the first pictures from Prince Harry’s NBC interview, in which he was questioned by veteran TV host Hoda Kotb.

Harry says Queen is on ‘great form’ after brush with Covid

00:06 , Io Dodds

Prince Harry told TV host Hoda Kotb that his mother Queen Elizabeth II was on “great form” after her recent bout with Covid 19.

According to new preview footage released by NBC News just now, the Duke of Sussex opened up about his recent secret visit to the Queen last week.

“Being with her, it was great. It was just so nice to see her,” Prince Harry told Ms Kotb.

“She’s on great form. She’s always got a great sense of humour with me, and I’m just making sure that she’s protected and got the right people around her.”

Child reporters land exclusive royal interview

23:14 , Io Dodds

Of all the journalists covering Prince Harry's visit to the Invictus Games, perhaps the most impressive scoop went to Sophia, 11, and Jay, 12, two cub reporters for the Dutch children's news outlet Kindercorrespondent.

In a sweet interview on Saturday, the pair asked the Duke – kneeling down so he was level with Sophia's microphone – about his wishes for Archie and Lilibet's future.

Prince Harry responded. "To grow up in a better world. To grow up in a fairer world, a safer world, a more equal world. "It's not going to be easy, but I will never ever ever rest until I as a parent have at least tried to make the world a better place for them.

"Because it is our responsibility that the world is the way that it is now, and I don't think that I should be bringing children into the world unless we are going to make that commitment to make it better for them. We cannot steal your future."

Asked what he liked most about the Invictus Games, Prince Harry said: "So many kindred spirits, comrades in arms, from all over the world – people who have been struggling and suffering by themselves, knowing that their story is unique to them but also so relatable to so many other people.

"Bringing that energy together and bringing that pain and the suffering together for one week, and then everybody leaves feeling more healed. That's what sport does, that's what community does, that's what human interaction does."

He told the two children that it was important for their generation to understand not only the history of war but "the power of recovery", saying good things could come from conflict. After the interview, the trio embraced.

'I promised I wouldn't have kids until I left the army'

22:41 , Io Dodds

Another nice detail from Prince Harry’s interview with People: in his younger days, he did not want to be married or have kids until he had left the British Army.

"When I was in the Army, I promised myself I would be out before having a wife and kids, because I couldn't imagine the heartache of being apart for so long during deployment, the risk of possibly getting injured, and the reality that my family's lives could be changed forever if that happened," Prince Harry said.

"Every member of the Invictus community has experienced varying degrees of these things. I have tremendous respect for what they and their families sacrifice in the name of service."

Harry explains disability to his son Archie

21:55 , Io Dodds

Prince Harry told People that his son Archie, who turns three years old on 6 May, is already very interested by the Invictus Games.

“I showed Archie a video of wheelchair basketball and rugby from the Invictus Games in Sydney, and he absolutely loved it,” Harry said.

“I showed him how some were missing legs and explained that some had invisible injuries, too – not because he asked, but because I wanted to tell him.

“Kids understand so much, and to see it through his eyes was amazing because it’s so unfiltered and honest.”

Second Sussex child Lilibet takes her first steps

21:32 , Io Dodds

In his interview with People, Prince Harry also revealed that his 10-month-old daughter Lilibet has taken her first steps, Meredith Clark reports.

“Her current priorities are trying to keep up with her brother; she took her first step just a few days ago,” Harry told People. “Proud papa, here.”

Lilibet, or Lili for short, was born last June and named in honour of her late grandmother, the Princess of Wales, and her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.

You can read Meredith's full story here.

'To have Meg by my side means everything'

21:10 , Io Dodds

Prince Harry has described his pride and happiness at returning to the Invictus Games with Meghan Markle as parents, my colleague Chelsea Ritschel reports.

In an interview with People magazine, the Duke of Sussex said:

“There is nowhere you can feel more embraced and supported than with the Invictus family, The Toronto Games were our first time out and about publicly in an official way. We were dating at the time, so it was a lot to take in, but fortunately, we were with the perfect community for that.

“Now, five years later, here we are in The Hague at the fifth Invictus Games, as parents of two, and living in the US,” Harry said. “I had always wanted to share these incredible moments with someone special, and to have Meg by my side means everything.”

Read the full story here.

Harry's secret visit to see the Queen

20:47 , Io Dodds

Last Thursday, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a secret visit to the UK to see Harry’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle.

It was only the third time the Duke of Sussex had returned to the UK since he and the Duchess stepped back from their roles as senior members of the royal family and relocated to California in March 2020.

“She had plenty of messages for [Invictus] Team UK, which I have already passed on to most of them,” he told the BBC on Monday. "So, it was great to see her. I’m sure she would love to be here if she could."

According to The Telegraph, both Sussexes have also been invited to appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations later this year.

It suggests that relations are improving between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family following Queen Elizabeth’s Covid-19 infection in February.

Oprah's royal interview was the most explosive since Diana

19:29 , Io Dodds

The Sussexes’ interview with Oprah Winrey last year was easily the most revealing royal interview since Prince Harry’s mother Princess Diana’s tell-all BBC spot in 1995.

Sitting in the grounds of the couple’s discreet house in Montecito, California, Meghan Markle told Oprah that she had contemplated suicide but been told it "wouldn’t be good for the [royal] institution" if she went to hospital.

She said there had been "several conversations" between herself, Harry, and other members of the royal family about "how dark" their mixed-race baby would be – a topic that left Harry "a bit shocked".

We don’t know whether this interview will be that explosive. One year on, relations between the Californian and the English Windsors may have cooled enough to make it a more chill affair. Then again, the Sussexes have surprised us all before.

Another potential bombshell interview from Prince Harry

19:07 , Io Dodds

Good morning and welcome to our live blog from sunny California, where Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle make their home.

This week, instead, the couple are in the Netherlands to attend the Invictus Games, a sporting competition for injured or sick military members and veterans founded by the Duke of Sussex.

It’s there that Prince Harry sat down with US TV host Hoda Kotb. We’ll get preview clips from the interview later tonight (Tuesday), and the full interview tomorrow (Wednesday).