Prince Charles quizzed on Prince Harry's claims he suffers from 'genetic pain'

Prince Harry and Prince Charles
(Image credit: Samir Hussein/WireImage)

The Prince of Wales has ignored questions about his son Prince Harry's controversial comments that he experienced "genetic pain and suffering" growing up.


Prince Charles managed to dodge questions posed to him on Friday by a BBC reporter during a visit to BCB International, a family-run business in Cardiff, which makes survival, medical and defensive equipment used by the Armed Forces and healthcare workers.

During an appearance on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast this week, Harry declared that he didn't want to "point the finger", but expressed his belief that Charles "treated [him] the way he was treated".

When Charles was asked: "Sir, do you agree with Prince Harry about the suffering and pain in the family? Have you read his comments?"

But instead of responding, Charles ignored the questions and kept quiet as he walked away.

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales with his sons, Prince Harry and Prince William at their Highgrove home in Gloucestershire

Charles appearance comes after Harry opened up about his childhood on Thursday, telling podcast host, Dax: "There is 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 I break that cycle so that I don’t pass it on, basically.

"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.'"

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and their baby son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor meet Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daughter Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe at the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation during their royal tour of South Africa on September 25, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa

The Duke of Sussex went on to reveal he became more aware of certain aspects of Prince Charles’ approach to parenting, claiming it was inspired by the Prince of Wales' own upbringing.

"Suddenly I started to piece it together and go 'OK, so this is where he went to school, this is what happened, I know this about his life, I also know that is connected to his parents so that means he's treated me the way he was treated, so how can I change that for my own kids?'" Harry reflected.

"And well here I am, I moved my whole family to the US, that wasn't the plan but sometimes you've got to make decisions and put your family first and put your mental health first."

It is understood that the 36-year-old will discuss further heartbreaking details of his mental health struggles in a new documentary with Oprah Winfrey. The series produced for Apple TV+ will delve into the issue of mental health and the personal experiences of Harry, Oprah and other familiar figures.

Celebrity Writer

Roxy James is a freelance Celebrity Writer at GoodTo, covering all things royal, entertainment and reality TV. Be it the latest Royal Family happenings, behind-the-scenes gossip at Strictly Come Dancing or breaking engagement, divorce or baby news - Roxy has it covered.