After almost a month of public scrutiny, one of Prince Harry's close friends breaks his silence and defends the Duke of Sussex's decision to break free from the royal family.

In ABC's special documentary "Royal Divide: Harry, Meghan, and the Crown," professional polo player Nacho Figueras opened up about being a witness to the sufferings that the 35-year-old Harry had to endure leading to their bombshell announcement to step down as "working royals."

"I spoke to Harry a few days ago. He has suffered a lot from all of (the) things that have happened to him. He suffers a lot from people judging him," Figueras said.

The 41-year-old polo player explained that Harry simply wants to live a normal life together with his wife and eight-month-old baby Archie.

"As normal as his life is going to be, right? Because when you have a thousand paparazzi outside your house in Canada waiting to get one picture of your son, that's not very, very normal," Figueras continued.

Figueras, who has been friends with Harry for more than a decade now, said that the Duke's decision is only a part of his move to protect his family.

"He's being a father... a guy who is trying to protect his cub and his lioness from whatever it takes," he added.

Harry's BFF continued to defend him by saying that the Sussex patriarch is only trying to protect his wife and son from press attacks, which Harry's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, suffered first leading to her tragic death.

Figueras added that Princess Diana would surely be proud of the man that Harry has become -- an "incredible man" as what he would describe him.

It is not the first time that Harry's polo-buddy defended him from public scrutiny. Back in October 2019, Figueras also expressed how he supports Harry's decision to seek privacy for his new little family.

Figueras also defended the Sussex matriarch, who has been under intense judgments the minute she married Harry.

"Then he found Meghan, who is an incredible girl. She gave up all of the things that she had to marry this man that she loves, which is great," Figuera said during an interview with The Ellen DeGeneres Show. 

He added that Meghan and Harry could even be treated as heroes as they are taking their time to help other people and make the world a better place.

 

In the end, Figueras said that it is a shame that instead of loving, embracing, and cheering up the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the media and the people are attacking them.

Earlier this year, Meghan and Harry had taken everybody by surprise when they announced their decision to step down as senior members of the royal family. They made it clear that they want to be financially independent in the hopes of living a private life while continuing to support Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

The couple added that they would be dividing their time between the United Kingdom and North America in raising baby Archie.

READ MORE: Royal Double: Meghan Markle Lookalike Goes Viral For Eerie Similarity to Duchess of Sussex

Tags: Prince Harry Meghan Markle Duke and Duchess of Sussex royal family Nacho Figueras