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Prince Harry says he wants to make sure the Queen is 'protected'

(CNN) Prince Harry has said the Queen was "on great form" during their recent meeting in the UK, adding that he wanted to make sure she is "protected" and has "the right people around her."

The Duke of Sussex told NBC's "Today" show that it was "great" being with his grandmother, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.

"It was just so nice to see her," he said in an interview which aired Wednesday. "She's on great form."

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan stopped by the UK on their way to The Hague to attend The Invictus Games last week. The couple and the Queen had tea together during the meeting, he told NBC.

"She's always got a great sense of humor with me and I'm making sure that she's, you know, protected and got the right people around her," said Harry.

Prince Harry pictured with his grandparents Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh in 2016 in Ascot, England.

"We have a really special relationship," added Harry. "We talk about things that she can't talk about with anybody else."

Harry said he missed his family in the UK, but did not comment specifically when asked whether he missed his father Charles, the Prince of Wales, and his brother William, the Duke of Cambridge.

The Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations are due to be held at the start of June. Harry said he would like to return to the UK so his children, Archie and Lili, can meet their great-grandmother.

Asked about how fatherhood is treating him, Harry said he was enjoying the "chaos" and "learning" of becoming a parent.

"I love it, I love every part of it," he said.

Harry also discussed his mother, Diana, and said he had started to tell Archie about what she was like.

"She's watching over us," he said.

In January 2020 Harry and Meghan announced that they were stepping back from the royal family, giving up their royal titles. They said at the time that they wanted to be financially independent.

Harry and Meghan have lived in Santa Barbara, California, since July 2020.

The duke told NBC that he feels at home living in the US.

"We've been welcomed with open arms," he said. "We've got such a great community up in Santa Barbara."

Last week's meeting with the Queen is the first time that Meghan has been back to the UK since the pair announced their move.

Harry returned last year, joining his brother William to unveil a statue of their mother, Diana, at Kensington Palace. He also returned to the UK to attend the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip.

Harry and Meghan's visit came after the Queen revealed that she was left "very tired and exhausted" following a recent bout of Covid-19. The 95-year-old monarch tested positive for the virus in February.

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