Prince Harry is reiterating his assertion that the British media has been actively targeting him and his wife, Duchess Meghan, for years on account of his own family.
The senior royal discusses the nature of his tense relationship with the senior royals, notably his father, King Charles III, and brother, Prince William, in a new teaser from his sit-down interview with ITV.
“Some people will say, ‘You have railed against invasions of your privacy all your life,’ but the accusation would be, ‘Here are you invading the privacy of your most nearest and dearest without permission,’ that would be the accusation,” Harry is addressed by interviewer Tom Bradby.
“That would be the accusation from the people that don’t understand, or don’t want to believe, that my family have been briefing the press,” the Duke of Sussex responds.
Harry has previously said that members of his family have leaked unfavorable articles about him to the British media. In his and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, he claims that one of the reasons he and Meghan stood down as senior royals in 2020 is that the British monarchy is structured in such a manner that it encourages unpleasant rivalry among its members—and once Meghan married into the family, they became the primary targets.
According to the docuseries, each senior royal (or royal couple) has a communications team that attempts to keep the press about them favorable. Because the palace has a working relationship with media in which they give information about the royals in exchange for coverage, these teams may send stories about other royals to news outlets to prevent negative publicity about their major royal.
In the documentary, he continues, he and William made a pact that they would never build their homes next to one another, but the future king broke that pledge. “I would far rather get destroyed in the press than play along with this game or this business of trading. And to see my brother’s office copy the very same thing that we promised the two of us would never, ever do,” he says, “that was heartbreaking.”
Before his book, Spare, is released on January 10, two interviews Harry gave to ITV and 60 Minutes will appear this Sunday.
