Prince Harry has addressed the challenges of parenting as he revealed that he had therapy before his eldest child Prince Archie was born. When Archie, now six, was born in 2019, Harry was still a working member of the Royal Family living in the UK with his wife Meghan Markle.

Talking about becoming a parent today at a Movember event in Melbourne, the prince admitted that he had therapy before Archie was born to prepare for the huge life change. He also said that he hoped his children would be “an upgrade” from him as generations learn from each other, while making it clear he does not see himself as an upgrade of his own parents.

Speaking at the event, the Duke of Sussex said: “I see parenting evolving over time. Our kids are our upgrade. Not to say that I upgraded my dad (King Charles) or that my kids upgraded me, but the kids that we bring up in today’s world need to be upgraded.”

“The reality is that – however you are parenting – that is a personal experience to you, you are going to want to improve on that.

“Obviously 40 years ago, there wasn’t social media, so that’s just one example of conversations that are now happening in households between kids and parents that never existed between me and my parents.”

Harry also opened up at the event, which aims to raise awareness of men’s mental health, that he accessed therapy before having children so he could be the best version of himself.

He revealed: “Certainly from a therapy standpoint, you want to be the best version of yourself for your kids.

“And I knew that I had stuff from the past that I needed to deal with and therefore, prepare myself to basically cleanse myself of the past.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have not been joined by their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet on their tour in Australia this week.