Prince Harry is royally over this sentiment. 

Six years after the Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan Markle stepped back from their duties in the royal family and relocated to California, he addressed critics who say he’s no longer part of the legacy. 

“I will always be part of the royal family,” Harry asserted in an April 24 interview with ITV News during a visit to Ukraine. “I’m here working and doing the very thing that I was born to do and I enjoy doing it.”

As he put it, “I enjoy being able to do these trips and come and support the people I’ve met before.”

Indeed, the 41-year-old—dad to Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, with Meghan—noted he was “grateful” to still have the platform that comes with his royal status to highlight issues like support to those affected by the ongoing war in Ukraine.  

But while Harry and wife Meghan stepped back from their duties in 2020 following ongoing tabloid scrutiny, he reiterated in 2021 that the couple never planned to entirely cut ties.