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n interview with Prince Harry ahead of the release of his controversial memoir Spare has been aired on ITV tonight ahead of the book’s launch.
The programme in which the Duke of Sussex sat down with broadcaster Tim Bradby revealed more detail on the book and more allegations against the Royal Family.
The Duke of Sussex accused members of his family of “getting into bed with the devil” to rehabilitate their image, and the King of sacrificing Harry’s interests in favour of his own.
In his first primetime television interview promoting his controversial memoir, Harry also criticised “family members” for a “really horrible reaction” on the day the Queen died, with leakings and briefings.
He also told ITV’s Tom Bradby that he loved his father Charles and brother the Prince of Wales, but said: “At the moment, I don’t recognise them, as much as they probably don’t recognise me.”
“Nothing of what I’ve done in this book or otherwise has ever been any intention to harm them or hurt them,” he added.
Clips previously released by ITV of Harry: The Interview, showed him describing feelings of guilt and telling broadcaster Tom Bradby he had cried only once after the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
In a previously released trailer for the interview, Harry said he was publishing his memoirs because he does not know “how staying silent is ever going to make things better”.
In another clip, he says he wants to reconcile with his family – but that it cannot happen without “some accountability”.
The one hour 40 minute programme that began at 9pm was the first of four broadcast appearances over the coming days, with the duke also speaking to Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes on CBS News on Sunday night in the US, Michael Strahan of Good Morning America on Monday and Stephen Colbert on the Late Show on CBS on Wednesday morning UK time.
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Prince Harry says he doesnt think his brother and father will read his memoir or watch his ITV interview
Prince Harry said he doesnt think his brother and father will read his memoir or watch his ITV interview.He said: “I don’t think – I don’t think my father or brother will read the book. I really hope they do. But I don’t think they will.
“And with regard to this interview I – I don’t know whether they’ll be, you know, watching this or not, but, what they have to say to me and what I have to say to them will be in private, and I hope it can stay that way.
“Because the last moment that we were together was during, you know, our – or the Queen’s funeral. And that, in my mind – and I think globally people felt the same, was a really good opportunity to bring the family together. “But the day that she died was just a really, really horrible reaction from my family members and then by all accounts, well certainly from what I saw and what other people probably experienced was they were on the back foot and then the briefings and the leaking and the planting, I was like ‘We’re here to celebrate the life of granny and to mourn her loss, can we come together as a family?’ but I don’t know – I don’t know how we collectively – how we change that.”
Harry discusses how ‘from the get go’ Meghan and Kate didnt get on
During the interview, Bradby discusses Harry and Meghan’s relationship with the Princess of Wales.
Bradby says how in Spare he described how “you do love her and see her as the sister you never had” but then with Meghan and Kate“the impression is that …almost from the get-go it’s just they don’t get on” which Harry describes as “fair.”
When asked what he thought it was all about he said: “lots of different reasons but, as I again detail a lot, I had put a lot of hope in the idea that it’d be William and Kate and me and whoever. I thought the four of us would, you know, bring me and William closer together, we could go out and do work together, which I did a lot as the third wheel to them, which was fun at times but also, I guess slightly awkward at times as well. “
“I don’t think they were ever expecting me to get into a relationship with someone like Meghan who had, you know, a very successful career.”
He suggested the “stereotyping” of her as an “American actress” that was “playing out” in the press could have played an influence. “So you know, the fact that I had that in the back of my mind, and some of the things that my brother and sister-in-law – some of the way that they were acting or behaving definitely felt to me as though unfortunately that stereotyping was causing a bit of a barrier to them really sort of, you know, introducing or welcoming her in.”
“ Well, American actress, divorced, biracial, there’s – there’s all different parts to that and what that can mean but if you are, like a lot of my family do, if you are reading the press, the British tabloids at the same time as living the life, then there is a tendency where you could actually end up living in the tabloid bubble rather than the actual reality.”
Memoir and Netflix interview ‘essential for historical fact and significance’
Questioned on whether he was “looking back too much” with his interview with Tom Bradby and releasing his memoir, the Duke of Sussex said: “We always knew that these two projects, both the Netflix documentary and the book – one being our story and one very much being my story – they were look-back projects.
“They were necessary, they were essential for historical fact and significance.
“I don’t want my kids or other people of that age growing up thinking ‘Oh wow, this is what happens’, like no that’s not what happened. This is what happened.
“There are two sides to every story, so it’s been – it’s been a painful process – cathartic at times, but going back over old ground to be able to get these projects right has taken a lot of energy, and there’s a lot of relief now that both these projects have been complete.
“Now we can focus on looking forward and I’m excited about that.
“So no, I’m not stuck in the past and I will never be stuck in the past.”
Harry addresses alleged comments within Royal household about Archie’s skin colour
In his interview with Bradby in California, the presenter said “in the Oprah interview you accused members of your family of racism”, Harry responded by saying “no I didn’t”, adding “the British press said that”.
The Duke continued: “Did Meghan ever mention that they’re racist?”
After Bradby said the duchess claimed troubling comments were made about their son Archie’s skin colour, Harry said: “There was – there was concern about his skin colour.”
Asked if he would describe that as racist, the duke said: “I wouldn’t, not having lived within that family. The difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different.
“But once it’s been acknowledged, or pointed out to you as an individual, or as an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you therefore have an opportunity to learn and grow from that in order so that you are part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
“Otherwise unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism.”
Prince Harry hits out at ‘horrific’ Sun newspaper article about Meghan
The Duke of Sussex has said Jeremy Clarkson’s “horrific” article in the Sun newspaper about his wife Meghan encourages people around the world to believe it is an acceptable way to treat women.
Harry told Tom Bradby on ITV ahead of the publication of his memoir Spare: “When we’re talking about accountability… the Jeremy Clarkson article, so not only did what he said was horrific and is hurtful and cruel towards my wife, but it also encourages other people around the UK and around the world, men particularly, to go and think that it’s acceptable to treat women that way.
“To use my stepmother’s words recently as well, there is a global pandemic of violent – violence against women.
“It’s no longer a case of me asking for accountability, but at this point the world is asking for accountability, and the world is asking for some form of comment from the monarchy but the silence is deafening.”
The Sun newspaper apologised after the piece, in which TV presenter Clarkson said he “hated” Meghan, became the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s most complained-about article.
Harry discusses ‘level of ‘unconscious bias that existed within me’
Prince Harry has talked about “unconscious bias, and being called a racist by the British press” in his memoir.
He told Bradby: “I got called a racist when I was, you know, in my 20s by mistakes that I made. They were never intentional to harm anybody, but I recognise from that a level of unconscious bias within me that probably came from a combination of my upbringing, things I was exposed to and things that I saw in the media.
“And I made a choice to right that wrong. I wanted to be part of the solution rather than part of the – part of the problem. And that has taken a lot of hard work, because I couldn’t understand ‘why am I being called a racist?’ of course clearly by what I did it looked that way.
“But I knew that I wasn’t a racist. But I made an active choice to ensure that the British press and the public knew that I wasn’t because that was a horrible place to be, a horrible thing to be called. But there was a level of unconscious bias that existed within me that needed to be confronted.”
Harry says Lady Susan Hussey’ never meant any harm’ with Lady Susan Hussey comments
The Duke of Sussex said the reaction from the press to the incident between Lady Susan Hussey and Ngozi Fulani was “horrendous”.
He told Tom Bradby on ITV: “All we’ve ever asked for in the last – certainly the last few years – is some accountability.
“And I’m very happy for Ngozi Fulani to be invited into the palace to sit down with Lady Susan Hussey and to reconcile, because Meghan and I love Susan Hussey. (Meghan) thinks she’s great.
“And I also know that what she meant – she never meant any harm at all.
“But the response from the British press, and from people online because of the stories that they wrote was horrendous.”
The Queen’s former lady in waiting quit an honorary role after asking Ms Fulani during an event at Buckingham Palace where she really came from.
Royal family ‘complicit in conflict created by the press’
The Duke of Sussex said “certain members” of his family and the people who work for them are complicit in conflict created by the British tabloid press.
Harry said: “I think there’s probably a lot of people who, after watching the documentary and reading the book, will go, how could you ever forgive your family for what they’ve done?
“People have already said that to me, and I said, forgiveness is 100% a possibility because I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back. At the moment, I don’t recognise them, as much as they probably don’t recognise me.
“But that is, uh, a symptom of one of the problems where we’re not just talking about family relationships, we’re talking about an antagonist, which is the British press, specifically the tabloids who want to create as much conflict as possible.
“The saddest part of that is certain members of my family and the people that work for them are complicit in that conflict.
“So, though I would like to have reconciliation, I would like accountability, I’ve managed to make peace over this time with a lot of things that have happened but that doesn’t mean that I’m just gonna let it go.
“You know, I’ve made peace with it, but I still would like reconciliation. And not only would that be wonderful for us, but it would be fantastic for them as well.”
Harry alleges ‘planting and leaking’ of stories from other members of the royal family
The Duke of Sussex has claimed “planting and leaking” from other members of the royal family meant, in his mind, they had written “countless books” and “millions of words … dedicated to trying to trash my wife”.
Asked how his brother would react to his airing of private conversations in public, Harry told Bradby: “He’d probably say all sorts of different things.
“But you know, for the last however many years, let’s just focus on the last six years, the level of planting and leaking from other members of the family means that in my mind they have written countless books – certainly millions of words have been dedicated to trying to trash my wife and myself to the point of where I had to leave my country.
“The distorted narrative is that we wanted to leave to go and make money.”