Prince Harry has admitted he and his brother are now "on different paths" and have "good days" and "bad days" in their relationship.

The Duke of Sussex has been plagued by rumours in recent months of a rift between him and Prince William, and in an interview with ITV he acknowledged that "inevitably stuff happens" given their high-profile role and the pressure the family faces.

Speaking during his recent tour of southern Africa with his wife Meghan Markle, he said: "We are brothers. We will always be brothers.

"We are certainly on different paths at the moment but I will always be there for him as I know he will always be there for me.

"We don't see each other as much as we used to because we are so busy but I love him dearly.

"The majority of the stuff is created out of nothing but as brothers, you know, you have good days, you have bad days."

Meghan, who has also been rumoured to have feuded with Kate Middleton, described the past year as "hard" and said her British friends warned her not to marry Harry.

Meghan, 38, has had to face an increasingly hostile press since she married into the Royal Family last year, with the tabloids luxuriating in stories about her fractured American family and the rumours of palace rifts.

The couple launched legal action this month against British tabloid the Mail on Sunday for invasion of privacy.

The US-born former actress said she had tried to cope by putting on a "stiff upper lip" but she was not prepared for the intensity of tabloid interest.

Meghan said: "When I first met my now-husband my friends were really happy because I was so happy, but my British friends said to me, 'I'm sure he's great but you shouldn't do it because the British tabloids will destroy your life'."

Asked whether she can cope, Meghan said: "In all honesty I have said for a long time to H — that is what I call him — it's not enough to just survive something, that's not the point of life. You have got to thrive."