Prince Harry has accused the British royal family of “getting into bed with the devil” to rehabilitate their image, and said his interests had been sacrificed by his father, King Charles III, in favour of his own.
The Duke of Sussex also said he got a “really horrible reaction” from the royal family on the day Queen Elizabeth II died, followed by leakings and briefings.
He made the remarks to British broadcaster ITV on Sunday, during his first prime-time TV interview to promote his controversial memoir.
Prince Harry also told ITV’s Tom Bradby that he loved his father and brother, Prince William, but said “at the moment, I don’t recognise them as much as they probably don’t recognise me”.
“Nothing of what I have done in this book or otherwise has ever been any intention to harm them or hurt them,” he said.
The memoir, called Spare, is due out on Tuesday and has caused a furore over claims that Prince William physically attacked him, as well as his admission that he killed 25 Taliban fighters during the Afghanistan war.
Prince Harry said he wanted to reconcile with his father and brother, and added that “forgiveness is 100 per cent a possibility”.
But when questioned by Bradby on whether he had taken a “flame thrower” to any bridges, Prince Harry said “silence only allows the abuser to abuse”.
“They have shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile up until this point. And I am not sure how honesty is burning bridges,” he said.
Prince Harry's ghost writer JR Moehringer — in pictures
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JR Moehringer is the US writer, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and novelist who ghostwrote Prince Harry's memoir, Spare. Getty -
Spare was released globally on January 10 -
Moehringer moved to Las Vegas to work on tennis star Andre Agassi's memoir -
Moehringer said he turned Agassi down several times before agreeing to work with him on Open. Getty / AFP -
Moehringer worked with Nike creator Phil Knight on his best-selling memoir, Shoe Dog -
Moehringer's own memoir about his childhood growing up on Long Island is called The Tender Bar, which was made into a film -
George Clooney directed the Hollywood version of Moerhinger's memoir The Tender Bar. Ben Affleck starred in it as Uncle Charlie. AFP -
Moehringer with actor Daniel Ranieri, who played his younger self in the fictionalised film version of his memoir. AP -
From left, Affleck, Lily Rabe, Daniel, Tye Sheridan and Christopher Lloyd arrive at the premiere of The Tender Bar in Los Angeles. AP -
Rabe and Affleck played a fictionalised version of Moehringer's mother and uncle in The Tender Bar. AP -
Daniel and Affleck in a scene from The Tender Bar. AP
The Duke of Sussex condemned the British press throughout the interview, and accused his family and people who work for them of being “complicit” in the conflict the media had created.
He denied that he had accused the royal family of racism in his interview with Oprah Winfrey, when he and Meghan revealed that an unidentified family member raised concerns about how dark their unborn son’s skin would be.
“No, I didn’t … the British press said that,” Prince Harry said. “Did Meghan every mention that they are racist? There was concern about his skin colour.”
Pressed on whether he would not describe that as essentially racist, he said: “I wouldn’t, not having lived within that family.”
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
The claims in March 2021 left Winfrey shocked and plunged the monarchy into crisis as it faced accusations of racism, but Prince Harry again refused to name the royal involved.
He also backed the queen’s former lady-in-waiting Lady Susan Hussey, who quit an honorary role after asking a black British domestic violence campaigner where she really came from.
“Meghan and I love Susan Hussey … She never meant any harm at all,” Prince Harry said.
Other key moments from the Sunday night programme, which ran for one hour and 40 minutes, include:
— Prince Harry claiming it was “fair” to say Prince William and Kate, the Princess of Wales, did not get on with the Duchess of Sussex from the beginning.
— His compassion for King Charles at having to break the news to his sons that their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, was dead.
— How King Charles once told Prince Harry as he discussed his struggles: “I suppose it is my fault. I should have got you the help you needed years ago.”
— Prince Harry describing how he fled his home country with his wife and son, fearing for his life.
How has UK media responded to Prince Harry's coming memoir? — video
— His fears of becoming a single father if what happened with his mother repeated itself with his wife
— How the people “predominantly responsible” for his mother's death “all got away with it”.
— His act of calling the bluff of a tabloid editor who threatened to expose a picture of him taking cocaine.
— His denial that he was “scathing” towards Camilla and the rest of his family.
His book includes how he took cocaine and magic mushrooms, and lost his virginity to an older woman in a field behind a busy pub.
The stories have dominated the headlines for days.
Bradby brought up the part where the duke wrote about losing his virginity at the age of 17, to which Prince Harry responded: “It’s four lines or something … if that.”
He then quipped: “We can talk about you losing your virginity, if you want.”
Prince Harry also revealed how he felt “slightly isolated” and different from his family in his younger years after the death of his mother, but shared joyful times with his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother.
“The truth is something that I need to rely on, and after many, many years of lies being told about me and my family, there comes a point where, you know, again, going back to the relationship between certain members of the family and the tabloid press, those certain members have decided to get in the bed with the devil, right, to rehabilitate their image,” he said.
Prince Harry's autobiography: What to expect — video
As Bradby outlined criticisms of King Charles, including the claim that he had sacrificed his son's interests “certainly when it comes to the press”, Prince Harry said he understood the need to have that relationship with the tabloid press but did not agree with it.
He said there had been “incredibly hurtful” decisions that had continued.
“It hasn’t stopped. It’s continuing the whole, the whole way through,” he said.
Prince Harry said he wrote his book because “38 years of having my story told by so many different people, with intentional spin and distortion, felt like a good time to own my story and be able to tell it for myself”.
“You know, I don’t think that if I was still part of the institution that I would have been given this chance to.”
The interview, filmed in California, is the first of four broadcast appearances over the coming days, with Prince Harry also speaking to 60 Minutes on CBS News on Sunday night, Good Morning America on Monday and Stephen Colbert on the Late Show on CBS on Wednesday morning UK time.
