Prince Harry's poignant bond with Matthew Perry as he admits he's 'a Chandler'

05 November 2023 , 12:27

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Prince Harry felt a strong connection with Friends character Chandler (Image: Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Prince Harry revealed how he felt a strong connection to the late Matthew Perry's iconic Friends character Chandler Bing.

The Duke of Sussex admitted he was a huge fan of the US sitcom in his memoir Spare, explaining he may have watched every episode of the show during a dark period in 2013 when he stepped back from his royal duties and suffered 'debilitating panic attacks'. The 39-year-old said he saw himself as 'a Chandler' and related to his character.

Tributes have poured in for Perry since he died aged 54 on October 28, with other famous names praising his acting talent and brave battle against addiction. It's possible the self-described 'Friends fanatic' royal saw Chandler as a kindred spirit due to their shared experience of their parents' divorce.

The character developed his trademark sense of humour early in life as a means of coping with the trauma of his mother and fathers' separation. Harry himself had to endure the divorce of his mum Diana, Princess of Wales and then-Prince of Wales dad Charles at the age of just eight.

In the 2017 documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, he said: "There was the point where our parents split and the two of us [himself and William] were bouncing between the two of them and we never saw our mother enough or we never saw our father enough. There was a lot of travelling and a lot of fights on the back seat with my brother, which I would win. There was all that to contend with. I don't pretend we're the only people to have to deal with that, but it was an interesting way of growing up."

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Chandler actor Matthew Perry was beloved by Friends fans (Getty Images)

Writing in Spare, Harry also lifted the lid on the crush he had on another Friends star - Monica Gellar, played by Courtney Cox. The Duke said he ended up crashing on the actress' sofa after a boozy night in 2016. He wrote: "I found the idea of crashing at Monica's highly appealing and amusing. I was still confused because… she was Monica. And I was a Chandler."

"I wondered if I'd ever work up the courage to tell her. Was there enough tequila in California to get me that brave?" Harry also told how Friends had accompanied him during those difficult months when he would often 'sit back', 'order food' and watch either Friends or crime drama 24. While never diagnosed, he later reflected that he was probably suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition he had observed in some of his fellow army veterans.

Jamie Saunderson