Prince Harry Reveals The Truth About The Strained Relationship With His Father

Prince Harry has been open about his relationship with his father Prince Charles, which is currently a bit frosty. His bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March did not put his father in the best light when he said (via Town & Country), "My father and my brother, they are trapped. They don't get to leave. And I have huge compassion for that."

Harry also revealed there's an enormous amount of pressure as a member of the royal family since everyone is watching your every move. "That's a part of the job," he said. "It's a part of the role. That's what's expected, no matter who you are in the family, no matter what's going on in your personal life, no matter what's just happened."

He seems committed to improving his relationship with his father, adding, "There's a lot of hurt that happened. And I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship." Where do Harry and Charles stand today? Keep reading for more details.

Prince Harry lit into Prince Charles during his appearance on Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, where he said he moved to California to "break the cycle" of "pain" he endured as a member of the royal family (via Daily Mail). Harry claimed his father "suffered" because he was raised by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and later "treated me the way he was treated," referring to it as "genetic pain."

Harry took his father to task as he opened up about his seemingly intense ways, saying, "I don't think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody, but certainly when it comes to parenting, if I've experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I'm going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don't pass it on, basically." He continued, "It's a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on anyway so we as parents should be doing the most we can to try and say 'you know what, that happened to me, I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen to you'."

Harry said things began to make sense when he pieced together Prince Charles' life and got a better understanding of his strict background. He added, "I moved my whole family to the U.S., that wasn't the plan but sometimes you've got to make decisions and put your family first and put your mental health first."

Prince Harry's interview on Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast reportedly did not go over so well with the royal family. After discussing his upbringing by his father Prince Charles, critics took Harry to task for his seemingly harsh words.

Royal commentator Robert Jobson criticized Harry on Twitter: "So Prince Haz has not only thrown his dad under the bus, but the queen and late grandpa too for their parenting style. Forgive me, but he's been a dad for how long?" He added, "Perhaps he should pen a book on how to parent properly drawing on his wealth of experience? For "charity" of course."

Jobson went on to slam Harry's "shameless behavior" for what he said about the royal family. He appeared on "Sunrise," where he said, "You've got to take some of it seriously because he believes it in himself, you know, mental health is a big big issue out there. He said Harry shouldn't keep "harping" on the issues and the fact that Harry went on the podcast so soon after Prince Philip's death was reportedly in poor taste.

Jobson said Prince Charles "did his best" when he raised William and Harry. He also questioned Harry's recollection of his youth, writing, "Was his childhood really that bad?"

Prince Charles is reportedly shaking his head after Harry questioned his parenting skills in a podcast. Royal commentator Roya Nikkhah claimed Charles has to be "bewildered" by what his son said, according to Express. She noted: "That was quite an extraordinary comment."

She claimed that Charles was "really cut up" about what Harry said about him in the bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March, where he said his father was "trapped" by his royal duties. Nikkhah went on to say that Prince Charles' inner circle knows he did everything he could as a single parent to be there for his children when their mother Princess Diana died. "I think people will be bemused because we've seen insights, quite recently, of the warmth of that relationship," she said.

Nikkhah continued, "A lot of people remember that image of the Prince of Wales walking Meghan down the aisle at the wedding when her own father couldn't attend. This second stab coming at Charles so soon after the Oprah interview will leave him extremely bewildered."

As for mending the rift in the royal family, that doesn't seem possible, according to Nikkhah. "All the speculation about any reconciliation between members of the royal family which we had during the funeral of Prince Philip, I think it's pretty clear that's not going to happen."