Prince Harry has said that his “conscience is clear” over the way he has publicly discussed his family’s rift as he attempts to reconcile with his father.

The Duke of Sussex was speaking out after meeting the King in the UK last week, the first time they have seen each other since February last year.

Harry and his father shared a 50-minute tea at Clarence House on Wednesday afternoon, after which nothing was said by either side about the meeting, beyond Harry telling the media at an Invictus reception that the King was “great”.

Prince Harry in London earlier this week

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Harry, who was in the UK from Monday to Thursday undertaking a series of events related to the causes he supports, told The Guardian that he had “enjoyed the week”. However he added that over the coming year “the focus really has to be on my dad”.

The King announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer in February last year and has been receiving weekly treatment.

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Harry suggested that he wanted to see his father more often, but refused to talk about the King. Prince William did not comment on Harry’s return to the UK last week and the brothers did not meet.

It has been reported that the King and William are wary of meeting Harry for fear of further revelations of their private discussions emerging in public. It came after scandals engulfed the royal family following Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, the Harry & Meghan Netflix series in 2022 and the release of his book, Spare, in January 2023.

Harry and Meghan gave an interview to Oprah Winfrey in 2021 which sent shockwaves across the world

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Commenting on these public disclosures, Harry said: “I know that [speaking out] annoys some people and it goes against the narrative. The book? It was a series of corrections to stories already out there. One point of view had been put out and it needed to be corrected.”

He adds: “I don’t believe that I aired my dirty laundry in public. It was a difficult message, but I did it in the best way possible. My conscience is clear.”

The prince was speaking after leaving Kyiv, where he had been promoting the work of his Invictus Games Foundation, which celebrates injured soldiers and has become increasingly popular in Ukraine due to the number of wounded in its war with Russia.

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He added: “I have always loved the UK and I always will love the UK. It’s been good to reconnect with the causes I am passionate about. I have been able to spend some time with people that I have known for so long. It is hard to do it from far away.”

He adds: “It is only in certain elements of the press where you see this talk about me being down or saying I am not smiling. This comes from people who think they know what I am thinking and how I am feeling. They are wrong.

“I think parts of the British press want to believe that I am miserable, but I’m not. I am very happy with who I am and I like the life that I live.”

During the interview he also revealed that he dislikes posing for staged photographs, does not like cycling but likes to box to relieve his frustration — “hitting the hell out of a bag”, he said, helps him to decompress.

Harry greets Steve Arnold, former Invictus Games competitor, alongside Dave Henson, ambassador of the Centre for Injury Studies in London

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Harry has admitted that he would “like to come home much more” and bring his family with him, so that the King might see his grandchildren. Archie, six, and Lilibet, four, have not seen their grandfather since June 2022.

It is unclear how Harry’s latest interview would be viewed by his father, with a friend of the King having told The Sunday Times this weekend that their meeting was “an olive branch wrapped in a test”.

“If any details of the meeting emerge or there is any commentary from Harry’s camp, it will be back to square one”, the friend said.