Prince Harry wants to prioritize fatherhood with a focus on 'breaking the cycle' of the past

Since moving to the U.S., Prince Harry has been more vocal about his mental health struggles and the tension between him and the Royal Family.

• The Duke of Sussex revealed details of his upbringing during an appearance on Dax Shepherd's podcast.
• As a new dad, Prince Harry wants to raise his children differently compared to his royal upbringing.
• In other royal news, Prince Charles is expected to make major changes to these royal palaces after becoming king.

Prince Harry's casual conversation with Dax Shepherd and his co-host Monica Padman on Armchair Expert not only gave further insight on his relationship with the Royal Family but marked Harry's first in-depth interview since his explosive tell-all interview with Oprah.

During the podcast, Prince Harry set out to promote his new mental health-focused docu-series with Oprah Winfrey titled The Me You Can't See, but also gave insight into how his royal upbringing has influenced how he's planning to raise his children.

Growing up as a royal has its challenges, and the Duke was very open about his struggles, especially mental health-wise. It was his experiences as a child that really influenced how he wanted his children to be raised. While he doesn't want to "point the finger" at Prince Charles, Prince Harry hopes to take a different approach with parenting to help avoid the struggles he went through as a child.

"Isn’t life about breaking the cycle?” he told the hosts. “There’s no blame. 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 that I break that cycle, so I don’t pass it on basically.”

With a daughter on the way already, there seem to be some expectations being put on their children. Speculations already claim that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's daughter with play an important role in helping the royal family put aside their differences. As a new dad, though, he hopes to help nurture his children so that they don't have to endure the pain he went through as a child.

"There's a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on anyway, as parents we should be doing the most that 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,'" he added.

Leaving behind his royal duties was just one way in which Prince Harry is giving himself and his family a fresh start. While fans were shocked to see Meghan and Prince Harry leave the U.K. behind for a life in the U.S., the Duke had previously had reservations about continuing his royal duties.

He first thought of leaving his royal position when he was 20-years-old. After growing up and learning the ins and outs of the "business," he realized having a family life and being a royal would be too much.

"I was in my early 20s, and I was thinking I don't want this job, I don't want to be here," he said. "I don't want to be doing this. Look what it did to my mom, how am I ever going to settle down and have a wife and family when I know that it's going to happen again?"

He also compared life as a royal as "a mix between ‘The Truman Show’ and being in a zoo." Noting how unhappy he was helped guide his decision on what kind of future he wanted for his family. 

"Sometimes you've got to make decisions and put your family first and put your mental health first," Harry said.

Now that he has left behind his royal life, Prince Harry has been able to pursue his passions, including snagging an executive role at a mental health app.