Harry ‘not texting’ William as he brands Camilla ‘the villain’ in US interview
Prince Harry talks about hopes of reconciling with his father and brother - but reveals he has not spoken to either of them for some time, as Royal Editor Chris Ship reports
The Duke of Sussex has said he is “not texting” his brother and described the Queen Consort as “the villain” in an incendiary interview in the US.
Speaking with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Harry said Camilla’s willingness to forge relationships with the British press made her “dangerous” and there would be “bodies left in the street because of that”.
On Sunday, the duke also spoke with ITV presenter Tom Bradby, where he denied branding the royals racist as he accused his family of “getting into bed with the devil”.
But speaking on 60 minutes with Anderson Cooper, Harry spoke about the royal family’s mistrust of his wife Meghan Markle – allegedly sparked by her being “American, an actress, divorced, black”, before joking: “She must be a witch”.
Cooper put it to the duke that his family dynamic was like “Game of Thrones without dragons”, but Harry replied: “I don’t watch Game of Thrones but there’s definitely dragons – and that’s again the third party that is the British press.”
ITV News' Rachel Younger takes a closer look at the relationship between the tabloid media and the Royal Family
During the interview, the presenter said Harry had written how he had believed his mother was still alive until the age of 23, when he visited Paris for the first time.
Harry also said he was “not invited” onboard a plane taking other members of the royal family to Balmoral Castle, ahead of the Queen’s death.
Speaking about his relationship with his brother, the Prince of Wales, and his father, the King, Harry said he is currently “not texting” William, and that he has not spoken to his father for “quite a while”.
“Do you speak to William now, do you text?” Anderson Cooper asked him.
“Currently, no, but I look forward to us being able to find peace,” Harry replied.
Asked how long it had been since he had spoken to Charles, he said: “We haven’t spoken for quite a while, no, not recently.”
Questioned on what his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, would think of his fractured relationship with his brother, Harry said: “I think she [Princess Diana] would be sad that it is where it is now.
“I believe that she would want reconciliation. And I hope that’s what’s achievable.”
When asked if he could see himself returning as a full-time member of the royal family, Harry replied: “I can’t see that happening.”
In another US media interview, Prince Harry told Good Morning America on Monday that his late mother would have been saddened at the state of the relationship between himself and his brother.
"I think she would be looking at it long term, to know that there were certain things that we need to go through to be able to heal the relationship," he told Good Morning America presenter Michael Strahan.
"I think she would be heartbroken that is has ended up where it has ended up."
"I think she would be heartbroken about the fact that William, his office, were part of these stories."
Prince Harry went on to say that him and his brother made a "pact" that neither of their offices would fight against each other - but this has been broken.
There has been a somewhat mixed reaction in the US, as Dan Rivers reports
Acknowledging he does have a part to play in the breakdown of the relationship, he claimed that people do not realise the efforts he has gone through to mend the relationship privately.
"I have thought about it long and hard," Harry said when asked if Spare would bring his father and brother closer to him. "And as far as I see it, the divide couldn't be greater before this book."
"But I genuinely believe that if me and my family can reconcile, can put our differences behind us... but first their needs to be conversation and accountability and if that does not happen then that is very sad."
He also used the interview to insist his grandmother, the late Queen, was not angry or upset with him for wanting to step down as a senior working royal.
Michael Strahan asked the duke: “Did she ever express that she was upset at you?” Prince Harry responded: “For what?”
Strahan replied: “For wanting to change your role.”
Prince Harry said: “No. My grandmother and I had a very good relationship. It was never a surprise to anybody, least of all her.
“She knew what was going on. She knew how hard it was. She never said to me that she was angry. I think she was sad that it got to that point.”
The Duke of Sussex - who described how he “can’t ever get out” of the royal family - said the monarch “knew how hard” it was for him, but was sad at how things turned out.
Touching again on his relationship with the Queen Consort, he said they hadn't spoken for a long time, but he didn't think of her as an "evil stepmother" and were "perfectly pleasant" whenever they saw each other.
On Sunday, in his first primetime television interview promoting his controversial memoir, Harry criticised “family members” for a “really horrible reaction” on the day the Queen died, with leakings and briefings.
He labelled royals “complicit” in the “pain and suffering” the Duchess of Sussex faced, and told ITV’s Bradby he was speaking out in his memoir because “silence only allows the abuser to abuse”.
Harry lambasted the British press throughout the sit-down interview on Sunday night, venting his frustration at the “conflict” he accused the media of creating, but saying his family had a part in this.
He also told Bradby he loved his father and brother, but said: “At the moment, I don’t recognise them, as much as they probably don’t recognise me.”
He added: “Nothing of what I’ve done in this book or otherwise has ever been any intention to harm them or hurt them.
“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.”
Royal biographer Catherine Mayer told ITV News' Rachel Younger "the Royal family and their aides have a very long history of leaking and planting stories. I know that to be true as someone who has covered the Royals and has been the recipient of leaks."
Royal Editor Chris Ship recaps the stand-out moments from the ITV interview
Harry’s book Spare, due out on Tuesday, has sparked a furore over his claims that William physically attacked him, while his admission he killed 25 Taliban members during the Afghanistan war generated protests in Helmand province over the weekend.
In shock remarks, Harry denied he accused the royal family of racism in his Oprah interview, when Meghan revealed an unnamed family member raised concerns about how dark their unborn son’s skin would be.
“No I didn’t…the British press said that…did Meghan ever mention that they’re racist?…There was concern about his skin colour,” the duke said.
Bradby, appearing taken aback, asked: “Wouldn’t you describe that as essentially racist?” Harry replied: “I wouldn’t, not having lived within that family.”
He added: “Going back to the difference between what my understanding is because of my own experience, the difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different.”
The claims in March 2021 left Oprah open-mouthed with shock and plunged the monarchy into crisis as it faced accusations of racism, but Harry again refused to name the royal allegedly involved.
Harry 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,” he said.
Accusing his family of a having a role in Meghan’s distress, Harry said: “At that time I didn’t fully understand how much – or how complicit – the family were in that pain and suffering that was happening to my wife, and the one group of people that could’ve helped or stopped this from happening were the very people that were, that were encouraging it to happen.”
As Bradby outlined Harry’s criticisms of his father including that the duke’s interests are “sacrificed to his interests, certainly when it comes to the press”, the duke 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, adding: “And they, and it continues. It hasn’t stopped. It’s continuing the whole, the whole way through.”
Harry’s tell-all tales in his book include recounting how he took cocaine and magic mushrooms, and lost his virginity to an older woman in a field behind a busy pub, with the stories have dominating the headlines for days.
Harry also revealed how he felt “slightly isolated” and different from his family in his younger years following the death of his mother, but shared joyful times with his great-grandmother the Queen Mother.
Capping off his US media appearances for Spare, Prince Harry is due to speak with Stephen Colbert on the Late Show on CBS on Wednesday morning UK time.
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