Prince Harry has revealed that seeing his brother’s family continue to grow makes him wish he had children of his own.

As he continued his tour of New Zealand, he also said he would love to have someone alongside him to share the pressures he faced.

The week-long trip is seeing him visit every corner of the country, following his month-long attachment with the Australian Defence Force.

Speaking to Sky News royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills, he said: “There come times when you think now is the time to settle down, or now is not, whatever way it is but I don’t think you can force these things, it will happen when it’s going to happen.

“Of course I would love to have kids right now but there’s a process that one has to go through and tours like this are great fun, hopefully I’m doing all right by myself, it would be great to have someone else next to me to share the pressure, but you know, time will come and whatever happens, happens.”

The trip meant he missed the chance to meet his niece, the Duke of Cambridge’s new daughter Princess Charlotte, and he said he was looking forward to returning home to hold her.

“I didn’t see any coverage at all. He [William] sent me two photos, one before everybody else which was nice, and then another one with her back with George back home, so I’m so looking forward to seeing her, to meeting her and to holding her,” he said.

“She was a little bit late, hence I missed her, so she’ll have to work on that, but apart from that it’s fantastic news for both of them so I’m thrilled.”