The Duke of Sussex is “heartbroken by the situation with his family” after moving to America, his friend Tom Bradby has said.

However, the ITV News at Ten anchor said Harry and Meghan are “content” with their new lives after stepping down as working royals and are “quite excited” by the things they are doing.

Interviewed on this Sunday’s episode of Love Your Weekend With Alan Titchmarsh, the broadcaster also stated that he thought the Duke of Cambridge did not find his position as a royal “easy”.

Asked if he thought the couple seemed any happier in the US the broadcaster replied: “So are they unhappy? No, I think they are content, the things they are doing they are quite excited by.

“I think he is heartbroken by the situation with his family, you don’t necessarily need to have knowledge to know that, but I think it is true.”

Harry and Meghan plunged the royal family into a period of crisis when they announced in January last year that they wanted to step back as senior royals and become financially independent.

In the months leading up to the couple’s bombshell announcement the rift in the royal family was laid bear when Harry said in an ITV documentary, presented by Bradby, that he and his brother, the Duke of Cambridge, were on “different paths” and have good and bad days in their relationship.

Pressed on whether he was referring to the distance between Harry and William, Bradby, who attended William’s wedding, told Titchmarsh: “Well, just the situation with the family clearly isn’t ideal and it has been a very difficult year for them all.

“To some extent I felt a little bit caught in the middle of them with that documentary which is a deeply uncomfortable place to be and that is, in a way, why I am always reluctant to say anything more because I don’t want to make anything worse or get in between anything or anything like that.”

Since moving to America for personal and financial freedom, Harry and Meghan have signed lucrative deals – thought to be worth well over £100 million – with Spotify and Netflix that give them the capital to pursue their new lifestyle and public goals.

Last month also saw the soft launch of the website for their non-profit organisation Archewell with the couple setting out their goal to “build a better world”.

Bradby, who was a guest at Harry and Meghan’s wedding, added: “But are they unhappy out there? No, I don’t think that’s right, I think they are pretty happy actually, but I think they wrestle with their position in life – I think they all do.

“I think William does too. I don’t think he finds it easy.”