Prince Harry of the United Kingdom has stated that he stood down from his royal duties because the “toxic” British press was killing his mental health, but that he had not quit from public duty.

Buckingham Palace confirmed that Queen Elizabeth’s grandson and his American wife Meghan had finalized their divorce from the royal family, adding that they would no longer be working members of the family and would lose their patronages.

When Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, announced their desire to resign down from royal responsibilities and start on a new life across the Atlantic in January 2020, they sent shockwaves through the monarchy.

Prince Harry discussed why he and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, decided to leave the British royal family with James Corden.

On Friday’s episode, Harry, 36, chatted with late-night presenter and fellow Brit James Corden, less than a week after informing Queen Elizabeth II that he and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, would not be returning as working members of the British royal family.

“It was never walking away,” Harry explained. “It was stepping back rather than stepping down. It was a really difficult environment, as I think a lot of people saw. We all know what the British press can be like, and it was destroying my mental health.

“I was like ‘This is toxic,’ so I did what any husband, what any father would do. I was like, ‘I need to get my family out of here.’ But we never walked away, and as far as I’m concerned, whatever decisions are made on that side, I will never walk away. I’ll always be contributing, but my life is public service, so wherever I am in the world, it’s going to be the same thing.”

When asked if they left due of the media’s discriminatory treatment of Meghan, Harry said, “It was a large part of it.”

The pair often mentioned a lack of support from the royal family when chatting with Oprah, especially when Markle suffered a storm of negative headlines.

“Nobody from [his] family ever said anything” in support of his wife while she faced intense public attention, Harry claimed. Instead, the family attempted to contrast their own experiences with the British media to Meghan’s, he added.

“This is not how they wanted to handle it,” another insider said, “but Meghan and Harry’s hand was forced, there is so much bad blood in that family—it’s toxic.”  According to another insider, the bad coverage has left Markle “deeply, deeply hurt.”

The insider said, “Meghan and Harry didn’t feel they got enough comfort or solace from them.”