Once a royal, always a royal.

It’s been six years since Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, took a step back from their royal duties, but the Duke of Sussex is still addressing the matter.

The “Spare” author clapped back at an ITV reporter on Friday, after he was asked whether he agrees with being described as “not a working royal.”

“No,” Prince Harry emphatically replied. “I will always be part of the royal family.”

Prince Harry wearing a light blue vest with a Ukrainian flag patch and "The HALO Trust" logo, observing demining efforts near Bucha.
Prince Harry, seen here on a humanitarian visit to Ukraine with HALO Trust on Friday, clapped back when a reporter asked if he agreed with him being labeled “not a working royal.”The HALO Trust Ukraine/AFP via Getty Images

Prince Harry walking through a forest clearing wearing a blue HALO Trust vest with a danger sign in the foreground.
“No,” he emphatically replied. “I will always be part of the royal family.”The HALO Trust Ukraine/AFP via Getty Images
Harry, who spoke to the press during a trip with HALO Trust, a humanitarian landmine clearing organization, to Ukraine, noted that he was there “working and doing the very thing that I was born to do.”

“I enjoy doing it,” he said of his humanitarian work.

“I enjoy being able to do these trips and come and support the people that I’ve met before, the friends that I’ve made,” he continued, adding that he hopes to bring attention “to issues that, you know, for one reason or another, drop out of the news because something else has popped up.”

Prince Harry wearing VR goggles and holding a controller, testing demining technology.
Harry doubled down, saying he is “working and doing the very thing that I was born to do” and that he “enjoy[s] doing it.”The HALO Trust Ukraine/AFP via Getty Images

The Royal Family walking to Christmas Day church service.
Harry and wife Meghan Markle (pictured here with King Charles, Prince William and Kate Middleton in December 2018) announced in January 2020 they were stepping back from their senior roles in the royal family.UK Press via Getty Images
The 41-year-old royal’s visit is the latest example of him following in the footsteps of his late mother, Princess Diana.

Diana notably opposed landmines, calling for an international ban on the devices, and trekked across an active minefield in Angola in 1997 — a historic moment Harry recreated in 2025.

Speaking on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022, and the recent war in Iran, Harry said “the vast majority of the global population want to see an end to these conflicts” and want “less conversations about war and more conversations about peace.”

Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince Harry, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, walk toward the camera on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle.
The couple, seen here with William and Kate in September 2022, said they wanted “to carve out a progressive new role” for themselves and “balance” their time between the UK and North America.Getty Images

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend Christmas Day Church service.
Harry and Meghan, pictured above in December 2017, then moved to California, where they currently reside with their kids: Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4.Getty Images
Harry and Meghan, 44, announced in January 2020 that they wanted “to carve out a progressive new role” and “step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent” while still supporting the monarchy.

They said they planned to “balance” their time between the UK and North America while “continuing to honour our duty” to the Crown, the Commonwealth and their patronages.

Just over a year later, Buckingham Palace announced that “it is not possible” for Harry and Meghan “to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.”

Prince Charles and Prince Harry in black tuxedos at the "Our Planet" global premiere.
The following year, Buckingham Palace said “it is not possible” for Harry and Meghan “to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.” (Harry is seen with King Charles above in April 2019.)Samir Hussein/WireImage

Princes William and Harry in navy suits walk side by side, looking at each other.
Since their public split from the royal family, the rift between the two sides has only widened. (Harry is pictured above with brother William in July 2021.)Getty Images
“While all are saddened by their decision, The Duke and Duchess remain much loved members of the family,” the statement also said.

The couple, who married in 2018 and have two kids — Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4 — relocated to Meghan’s home state of California.

Over the years, the royal rift between Harry and his father, King Charles, and his brother, Prince William, has only widened thanks to his and Meghan’s 2021 bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey and other projects, like Harry’s 2023 memoir, “Spare.”