Prince Harry feels remaining silent “only allows the abuser to abuse”. Perhaps, that’s why he is leaving no stone unturned to “own” his story through his memoir and docu-series after 38 years of “spin and distortion” by other members of the British royal family. Ahead of the release of his memoir ‘Spare’, which is scheduled for Tuesday, Harry candidly spoke to a publication and, once again, took an aim at his family.
To promote his book which has generated incendiary headlines with its details of bitter family resentments, Harry spoke to ITV’s Tom Bradby and made some shocking revelations.
He accused royals of getting “into bed with the devil” to gain favourable tabloid coverage and claimed that his stepmother Camilla, the queen consort, leaked private conversations to the press as part of her image cleansing campaign, which got tarnished when Princess Diana referred to her as “the third person in her relationship with now-King Charles”.
“After many, many years of lies being told about me and my family, there comes a point where, going back to the relationship between, certain members of the family and the tabloid press, those certain members have decided to get in bed with the devil,” Harry told Bradby.
Harry also revealed why he is opening up about everything now. He shared that his family has shown “absolutely no willingness to reconcile”.
When asked if his comments could be seen as an act of burning bridges between him and his family, Harry replied, “Well! They’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile. And I’m not sure how honesty is burning bridges. You know, silence only allows the abuser to abuse.”
The Duke of Sussex also told ITV that he cried only once after his mother Princess Diana’s death and that he feels guilty for not showing his emotions when he and Prince William greeted crowds of mourners outside Kensington Palace. In the book, Harry blames his family’s stiff-upper-lip ethos, saying he had “learned too well.. the family maxim that crying is not an option”.
Watch | Gravitas: Prince Harry accuses prince William of assault
“There were 50,000 bouquets of flowers to our mother and there we were shaking people’s hands, smiling,” Harry said. “I’ve seen the videos, right, I looked back over it all. And the wet hands that we were shaking, we couldn’t understand why their hands were wet, but it was all the tears that they were wiping away.”
“Everyone thought and felt like they knew our mum, and the two closest people to her, the two most loved people by her, were unable to show any emotion at that moment.”
‘Spare’ is the latest in a string of public pronouncements by Harry and Meghan since they quit royal life and moved to California in 2020, citing what they saw as the media’s racist treatment of Meghan and a lack of support from the palace. It follows the Winfrey interview and a six-part Netflix documentary released last month.
In the ghostwritten memoir, Harry, 38, describes the couple’s acrimonious split from the royal family in early 2020, after their request for a part-time royal role was rejected.
Harry contrasts the withdrawal of the couple’s taxpayer-funded security with the case of his uncle, Prince Andrew, who was removed as a working royal over his friendship with the U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Last year, Andrew settled a lawsuit from a woman who accused him of sexually abusing her while she travelled with financier Epstein when she was 17. Andrew paid an undisclosed sum as part of the settlement but didn’t admit wrongdoing.
Harry alleges that no one considered removing Andrew’s security despite the “shameful scandal”.
The TV interviews are just two of several given by Harry that are set to heap more pressure on the royal family. He is also appearing on ‘Good Morning America’ and ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’.
Veteran British journalist Jonathan Dimbleby, a biographer and friend of King Charles III, said Saturday that Harry’s revelations were the type “that you’d expect … from a sort of B-list celebrity”, and that the king would be pained and frustrated by them.
While Harry said that he hadn’t spoken with his father or brother in a while, he hopes to find peace with them. He told ITV that he wants reconciliation with the royal family, but “the ball is in their court”. Royal officials, however, haven’t commented on any of the allegations, though allies have pushed back on the claims, largely anonymously.
(With inputs from agencies)
You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.
