- Princess Akshita of Mayurbhanj said she gets why Prince Harry needed to step back from royal life.
- Akshita said royals often deal with imposter syndrome and pretending to be something they're not.
- As a royal, she would never trade her platform to raise awareness for her community, she said.
Princess Akshita of Mayurbhanj told Insider she gets why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the British monarchy but says she'd never step back from her royal life.
The daughter of the 47th ruler of the 1,000-year-old Bhanja dynasty and great-granddaughter of the late King Tribhuvan of Nepal, Akshita helps her sister Princess Mrinalika run Belgadia Palace in their home state of Odisha, India, works for an Artificial Intelligence non-profit, and raises awareness about conservation.
But for her, being born into a royal family generations after they lost official titles, when India gained independence in 1947, is a blessing.
"I hit jackpot choosing this family to be born in," Akshita said. "I never felt I had to be someone different or someone else to portray a certain image."
Her ancestry gives her the platform to do humanitarian work, she said. Her March 2021 tweets about fires in Similipal National Park, a reserve in Odisha home to tigers, helped direct public attention to the issue, the Hindustan Times reported at the time.
She was also able to study at New York City's Bard College and returned in 2016 with ideas of how to improve her community while carrying on the family legacy, she said.
"When my parents sent me abroad for education, they wanted me to understand the traditions and come back to be a leader in these communities, but also understand times have changed," Akshita said. Her upbringing and family history instilled in her a sense of gratitude for the life she lives so she could "never forget the position" she has.
Leaving royal life can be 'much easier' than staying, Akshita says
In India, "there are very few families who still live in their palaces or in their home countries because it's much easier to leave," Akshita said. "It's harder to stay back and be like 'Who am I,' when you don't have the crown and the money and the palaces and the retinue of staff."
Though she stayed, she said she gets why royals from across the world like Prince Harry and Prince Kunle of Nigeria left royal life behind.
"I think about what it's like to pretend to be something you're not," she said while speaking about how imposter syndrome can affect royals.
Akshita said she respected Markle and Harry prioritizing family and mental health over titles. During their March 2020 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Sussexes said racism from the British media and within the royal household also played a part in their decision to step back and leave the UK.
Even though they're no longer working royals, both Markle and Harry continue to use their platform and their non-profit foundation, Archewell, to champion causes important to them.
"For them, it got harder and harder," Akshita said, especially for Harry, who she said essentially lived in a "golden cage" by growing up royal.
"I can imagine how suffocating it could be to live that life continuously, and have people hold you to a standard, which is impossible," Akshita added. "When you're royalty, your moral compass has to be very strong."
There is something very human, she said, of people like Markle and Harry who opt to leave the pageantry of royal life behind.
"When you take away all of this, you realize these are individuals who are trying to do the best they can for their family," Akshita said.