London - He hasn’t yet had a chance to cuddle his new niece, Princess Charlotte.
But Britain's Prince Harry has admitted he is more broody than ever and would “love to settle down ... and have kids”.
The royal – now fifth in line to the throne after the birth ten days ago of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s second child – was speaking during an official tour of New Zealand, following a month-long Army deployment to Australia.
Harry, who split from his most recent girlfriend, Cressida Bonas, last year, admitted that he was at a crossroads in his life personally and professionally, having announced this year that would be quitting the military after a decade and two frontline deployments in Afghanistan.
But he asked the British people to “trust” his decision and insisted he wanted to make “everyone proud”.
Speaking of the latest addition to the family, Harry, 30, said: “He [William] sent me two photos, one before everybody else which was nice, and then another one with [her brother] George back home. I’m so looking forward to seeing her, to meeting her and to holding her. She was a little bit late, hence I missed her, but apart from that it’s fantastic news, so I’m thrilled.”
In an interview with Sky News the prince – who despite his reputation as a playboy had a seven-year relationship with Zimbabwean lawyer Chelsy Davy before dating dancer and actress Bonas for two years – confessed he would love to have someone alongside him to share the “pressure” of his royal role.
“There come times when you think now is the time to settle down, or now is not, whatever way it is, but I don’t think you can force these things, it will happen when it’s going to happen,” he said.
“Of course I would love to have kids right now but there’s a process that one has to go through, and tours like this are great fun. Hopefully I’m doing all right by myself – it would be great to have someone else next to me to share the pressure, but you know, time will come and whatever happens, happens.”
Of his decision to quit the military, the wisdom of which has been questioned by some royal commentators, Harry said he was finding it increasingly difficult to juggle his royal role with his commitment to the Army.
He said that after ten years in the military, serving both as a forward air controller and an Apache pilot in Afghanistan, his next career move would be a desk job and he didn’t feel that it would be compatible with his growing royal role.
“It is a crossroads,” he said. “I’m in the same position now as most people in my year group or my rank would be ... [and] most of the guys that I joined with have left, for numerous reasons.
“With wanting to take on slightly more of this [the royal] role, I don’t really feel as though I would be in the right position to take on the careers of more soldiers and take on the responsibility of continuing to fly, for instance.
“A lot of guys my age when they get to captain leave and that is because the guys join for the outside, for the excitement of running around in the bush with the soldiers. [But] there is a point where you have to take the next step and do staff college and become a major. It doesn’t sit comfortably with me, knowing that I am off doing something while other people are looking after my soldiers. I don’t want people to cover for me. That was never going to work.”
He insisted, however, that he didn’t want to become a full-time royal quite yet and hoped – like his brother, who is to work as an air ambulance pilot – to find a paying job.
“This part of the role [royal duties] is fantastic but both William and I feel as though we need to have a wage as well, to work with normal people, to keep us sane, to keep us ticking along,” he said.
“In the future, if we want to make a valid contribution and be taken seriously, then we need to work alongside other people. As long as they [the British people] know they can trust me to make the right decision. Hopefully it will be something that means I can give something back.
“I’ve never wanted the ‘party prince’ tag. Hopefully I will make people proud.”
Harry said he had loved his time with the Australian Defence Force and was having a “fantastic” time on his week-long tour of New Zealand, which has seen him do everything from rub noses in a traditional Maori greeting to shucking oysters.
He met pupils at a school on Stewart Island, cheekily poking his tongue out at one pupil as they posed for a group photo.
Over the weekend he even took part in a pub quiz, leading a team called The Ginger Ninjas – but the winners were his own bodyguards.
Daily Mail