Prince Harry has said he was “probably bigoted” before his relationship with Meghan Markle.
In a new teaser for an interview with CBS News in the US, which is due to air on Sunday, the Duke of Sussex speaks about how he “didn't see what I now see”.
He says “the race element” to the couple's relationship had been “jumped on straight away” by the British press, adding he had no idea how “bigoted” UK media was until his wife and their relationship were thrust into the spotlight.
“I went into this incredibly naive. I had no idea the British press were so bigoted. Hell, I was probably bigoted before the relationship with Meghan.”
Interviewer Anderson Cooper responds by asking the duke: “You think you were bigoted before the relationship with Meghan?”
The duke replies: “I don't know. Put it this way, I didn't see what I now see.”
The interview is part of a media blitz the prince is making ahead of the release of his autobiography Spare on Tuesday.
Final part of Harry & Meghan Netflix documentary released — in pictures
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The final part of Prince Harry and Meghan's controversial Netflix documentary was released on Thursday morning. Photo: Netflix -
The Sussexes’ six-part show has become the streaming giant’s most-watched documentary in a premiere week. Photo: Netflix -
The Harry & Meghan documentary is a six-part series on Netflix. PA -
The documentary, billed as 'unprecedented and in-depth', is being broadcast exactly three months after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. PA -
The duchess appears with a towel wrapped around her hair, appearing to speak into her phone camera, saying: 'H is in London and I’m here.' Photo: Netflix -
Office workers in London watching the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's controversial documentary. PA -
A woman in London watches the docuseries. AFP -
The couple discuss racism and the breakdown of their parents' marriages during the series. PA -
The six-part series was available to watch from 8am UK time. PA -
New images of Prince Harry and Meghan released by Netflix ahead of the show. AFP -
Netflix showed the first trailer last week, just as Prince Harry's brother William made his first trip to the US as Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, prompting accusations of sabotage. AP -
The couple quit as senior working royals in 2020 in favour of more freedom and the ability to earn their own money in the US. Photo: Netflix
Other interviews will be broadcast in the coming days on ITV and GMB in the UK, as well as a separate appearance on the Late Show on CBS in the US.
The book, whose release was supposed to be tightly controlled, was accidentally put on sale early in Spain. Material has also been leaked by The Guardian in the UK, which obtained a copy in the US.
It does not appear to reveal any more race allegations, following bombshell claims in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s recent Netflix series.
In it, Prince Harry claimed he and Meghan suffered with racism from the outset, and were not supported by his family.
The documentary also referenced when Princess Michael of Kent wore a Blackamoor-style brooch to an event the Duchess of Sussex attended in 2017.
Prince Harry said: “There is a huge level of unconscious bias. It is education, it is awareness. It is a constant work in progress for everybody, including me.”
In another clip from the upcoming 60 Minutes interview, due to air on Sunday, the Duke of Sussex explained why his move away from the royal family has been so public.
“Every single time I've tried to do it privately there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife,” Prince Harry told Mr Cooper. “You know, the family motto is never complain, never explain, but it's just a motto.”
“There's a lot of complaining and a lot of explaining … being done through leaks,” Mr Cooper suggested.
“They will feed or have a conversation with the correspondent,” said the prince.
“And that correspondent will literally be spoon-fed information and write the story. And at the bottom of it they will say that they've reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. But the whole story is Buckingham Palace commenting. So when we're being told for the last six years, 'We can't put a statement out to protect you'. But you do it for other members of the family. It becomes — there becomes a point when silence is betrayal.”
In a teaser for another interview scheduled to air on the same day in the UK with ITV, the prince speaks about seeing “the red mist” in his brother during a confrontation in which he alleged Prince William knocked him to the floor.
“He wanted me to hit him back, but I chose not to,” he tells ITV News at Ten presenter, Tom Bradby.
“What was different here was the level of frustration, and I talk about the red mist that I had for so many years, and I saw this red mist in him.”
Mr Bradby, who is a friend of Prince Harry's, says: “Wouldn't your brother say to you, 'Harry, how could you do this to me after everything? After everything we went through?' Wouldn't that be what he would say?”
He replies: “He would probably say all sorts of different things.”
Asked if he will attend his father's coronation later this year, he said: “There's a lot that can happen between now and then but the door is always open, the ball is in their court.”
In another excerpt from the interview, the prince said: “I would like to get my father back; I would like to have my brother back.”
Without saying exactly who he is referring to, he adds “they feel as though it is better to keep us somehow as the villains”, and “have shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile”.
Prince William and Prince Harry through the years — in pictures
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Prince William and Prince Harry join Queen Elizabeth II's funeral procession towards St George's Chapel in September 2022 in Windsor. Getty Images -
The royal brothers attend a vigil in honour of the queen at Westminster Hall, central London. Getty Images -
Prince William, his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince Harry, and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, at Westminster Hall as the queen's coffin is carried in. Getty Images -
The princes and their wives on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle, heading to meet mourners who had gathered and left tributes to Queen Elizabeth. Getty Images -
Prince William and Prince Harry unveil a statue they commissioned of their mother Princess Diana in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, in July 2021. Getty Images -
The princes at the ceremonial procession during the funeral of Prince Philip at Windsor Castle in April 2021. Getty Images -
The princes are joined by their wives for a Commonwealth Day service in March 2020 in London. Getty Images -
(L-R) Prince William, Sir David Attenborough, Prince Charles — now king — and Prince Harry attend the world premiere of Our Planet at London's Natural History Museum in April 2019. Getty Images -
The princes and their wives leave a Christmas Day service at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Sandringham, in December 2018. Getty Images -
Prince William and Prince Harry attend the opening of the Greenhouse Sports Centre in 2018 in London. Getty Images -
Prince William and Prince Harry watch the RAF 100th anniversary flypast from the balcony of Buckingham Palace alongside the queen, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. Getty Images -
Prince William, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry attend an Anzac Day service at Westminster Abbey in 2018. Getty Images -
Prince Harry with his best man, Prince William, as they wait for the start of his wedding ceremony to Meghan in 2018. Getty Images -
The princes race against each other at a London Marathon training day at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in 2017. Getty Images -
The princes try out light sabres during a tour of the Star Wars sets at Pinewood studio, London, in 2016. Getty Images -
Prince Harry, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William raise their wands on the set used to depict Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter films. Getty Images -
The princes take part in the late queen's diamond jubilee celebrations at Buckingham Palace in 2012. Getty Images -
Prince Harry, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William wave from the royal barge Spirit of Chartwell in 2012. Getty Images -
Prince William takes the hand of his bride Kate, followed by Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton as they walk down the aisle of Westminster Abbey in 2011. Getty Images -
The princes chat before the wedding in 2011. Getty Images -
The princes pose with David Beckham at an FA reception in Johannesburg, South Africa. Getty Images -
The princes on a visit to a classroom lit by oil lamps in Semongkong, Lesotho, in 2010. Getty Images -
The princes celebrate a try during the 2007 Rugby World Cup final between England and South Africa in 2007. Getty Images -
The princes pose for an official photograph for the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla in 2005. Getty Images -
The princes follow the coffin of their grandmother and Princess Diana's mother, Frances Shand Kydd, in 2004. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth waves to the crowd from the balcony of Buckingham Palace as Prince Harry and Prince William look on after attending the Trooping of the Colour ceremony in 2003. Getty Images -
Prince Charles and his sons William and Harry appear at a photo call in the Swiss village of Klosters at the start of his annual skiing holiday in 2002. Getty Images -
Princes William and Harry appear with the Queen Mother during celebrations to mark her 101st birthday in 2001. Getty Images -
Prince Philip, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles follow the coffin of Princess Diana in September 1997. Getty Images -
Prince William and Prince Harry pose with Princess Diana and Prince Charles on Prince William's first day at Eton College in 1995. Getty Images -
Princess Diana with the young princes at the piano in Kensington Palace in 1985. Getty Images -
Prince Charles and Princess Diana with their sons aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia in Venice in 1985. Getty Images
