Prince Harry has added to his allegations about the inner workings of the British royals ahead of the publication of his memoir “Spare” on Tuesday, setting the stage for an explosive week for the estranged family as they navigate his highly publicized disclosures.
In two interviews with British and US networks ITV and CBS, the Duke of Sussex spoke of the death of his mother, the former Princess of Wales; his disdain for the British press; his anger over the treatment of his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and the subsequent fallout with his family since their marriage.
Speaking to CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday, Prince Harry accused Camilla, Queen Consort, of leaking stories about the family to the British media as part of her campaign to “rehabilitate her image.” His mother Diana famously referred to Camilla as the third person in her marriage to then-Prince Charles.
He said he hadn’t spoken with his brother, Prince William, and his father, King Charles III, for “a while,” adding the “ball is very much in their court” when asked about the possibility of a reconciliation.
In a subsequent interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” broadcast on Monday, Harry also shared that it’s been “a long time” since he’s spoken to his stepmother.
“I love every member of my family, despite the differences, so when I see her, we’re perfectly pleasant with each other,” he said. “She’s my stepmother. I don’t look at her as an evil stepmother. I see someone who married into this institution and has done everything that she can to improve her own reputation and her own image, for her own sake.”
Buckingham Palace has repeatedly declined to comment on the contents of Prince Harry’s forthcoming memoir, which has been the subject of leaks detailing some of his most controversial claims. CNN has not seen a copy of the book but has requested an advance copy from the publisher Penguin Random House.
The interviews came hours before the publication of his memoir on Tuesday at midnight London time (7 p.m. ET Monday), as Prince Harry continues to push back against what he refers to as “the institution,” revealing his perspective on life inside the royal family.
Prince Harry and Camilla, Queen Consort
Speaking to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who also appears as a regular correspondent on CBS’ 60 Minutes, Prince Harry said both he and his brother, Prince William, had asked the King not to marry Camilla.
“We didn’t think it was necessary. We thought that it was gonna cause more harm than good and that if he was now with his person, that – surely that’s enough.”
But he said the brothers eventually came around to the idea: “We wanted him to be happy. And we saw how happy he was with her.”
However, the Duke of Sussex added that Camilla was “dangerous” because she’d been cast as a “villain” by the press for her role in the collapse of his parents’ marriage and needed to “rehabilitate her image.”
“That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press. And there was open willingness on both sides to trade of information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her, on the way to being Queen Consort, there was gonna be people or bodies left in the street because of that,” Prince Harry said.
The CBS interview included a reference to Harry’s memoir when he reportedly wrote about being “sacrificed” on Camilla’s “personal P.R. altar.”
By way of explanation, the duke told Cooper: “If you are led to believe, as a member of the family, that being on the front page, having positive headlines, positive stories written about you, is going to improve your reputation or increase the chances of you being accepted as monarch by the British public, then that’s what you’re gonna do. “
Camilla married then Prince Charles in 2005, eight years after the death of his first wife, Diana, Princess of Wales. The two had been involved romantically on and off for decades, and Diana had once famously referred to Camilla as the third person in their marriage.
Prince Harry’s relationship with the Palace and the British press
In the interview and in excerpts from his memoir shared by ITV, the Duke of Sussex referred to the British press as an “antagonist” that wanted 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,” he added.
He stated that the “leaking” and “planting” of “a royal source” to the press “is not an unknown person, it is the palace specifically briefing the press, but covering their tracks by being unnamed.”
Prince Harry added that he thinks “that’s pretty shocking to people. Especially when you realize how many palace sources, palace insiders, senior palace officials, how many quotes are being attributed to those people, some of the most heinous, horrible things have been said about me and my wife, completely condoned by the palace because it’s coming from the palace, and those journalists have literally been spoon-fed that narrative without ever coming to us, without ever seeing or questioning the other side.”
Prince Harry echoed those sentiments with CBS’ Cooper, adding even at the young age of 12, he felt resentment toward the British media.
“It was obvious to us as kids the British press’ part in our mother’s misery and I had a lot of anger inside of me that luckily, I never expressed to anybody,” he said. “But I resorted to drinking heavily. Because I wanted to numb the feeling, or I wanted to distract myself from how … whatever I was thinking. And I would, you know, resort to drugs as well.”