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PRINCE HARRY AND MEGHAN Why Insiders Say Prince Harry May Have Crossed a Palace Red Line with Latest Interview ... During an explosive 90-minute interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby that aired Sunday, Harry doubled down on accusations that the royal family and British press drove him and Meghan Markle out of Britain. 
Why Insiders Say Prince Harry May Have Crossed a Palace Red Line with Latest Interview ... BY KOEN VAN WEEL/GETTY IMAGES Original article: Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | ||
ROYALS
Why Insiders Say Prince Harry May Have Crossed a Palace Red Line with Latest Interview
During an explosive 90-minute interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby that aired Sunday, Harry doubled down on accusations that the royal family and British press drove him and Meghan Markle out of Britain.
BY KATIE NICHOLL
JANUARY 8, 2023
hy Insiders Say Prince Harry May Have Crossed a Palace Red Line with Latest Interview
During an explosive 90-minute interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby that aired Sunday, Harry doubled down on accusations that the royal family and British press drove him and Meghan Markle out of Britain.
Written by KATIE NICHOLL
JANUARY 8, 2023
Why Insiders Say Prince Harry May Have Crossed a Palace Red Line with Latest Interview
BY KOEN VAN WEEL/GETTY IMAGES
Prince Harry said he is “100 percent” confident he can reconcile with his family, despite launching a fresh wave of attacks on King Charles, Queen Consort Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate in an explosive 90-minute interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby that aired Sunday.
Claiming that his family and the British media drove him and Meghan Markle out of Britain, Harry said that some members of his family chose to “get into bed with the devil” to tarnish his and Meghan's reputation in order to improve their own. While he claimed he wants to make peace, he said his family have “shown no willingness to reconcile.”
During the sit-down interview to promote his autobiography Spare (due out Tuesday) that aired on ITV, Harry read excerpts from the book, specifically passages that covered parts of his childhood, his school years and the traumatic impact Princess Diana’s death had on him. Harry described he and William as being “on different paths” since they were young boys, saying they dealt with their mother’s death in “different ways.”
He also revealed a deep sibling rivalry that dated back to their school days, however, he insisted “I’ve always loved my brother.” When asked whether there was any chance of a reconciliation between them, Harry said he “genuinely believes” there can be a resolution, saying, “I hope there can be a constructive conversation” but he insisted that they needed to keep “the antagonists” as he referred to the British tabloid press, out.
It was a matter Harry was pressed on by Bradby, an old friend who has interviewed the prince on numerous occasions over the years. When asked about the tirade of very public criticism he has leveled at his family, Harry blamed the British press for creating conflict and a culture war in the UK and said, “Silence only allows the abuser to abuse, I don’t see how silence can make things better.”
In his memoir, Harry writes that William feels he has been brainwashed by therapy, however, Harry told Bradby he was in a good place and happier than he has ever been.
Harry’s approach in promoting the blockbuster book has, unsurprisingly, irked the royals and those close to them, sources say. As one tells Vanity Fair, Harry “totally fails to see the irony and hypocrisy in what he says. When there have been private family conversations, it has been Harry who has leaked them to the press.”
On Saturday, sources close to the royal family expressed their shock at Harry’s book and interview saying, “He is on a path of self-destruction. There is so much vengeance. The late Queen would have been absolutely devastated.” They added that any reconciliation appears unlikely in the short term.
Before the interview aired, former Buckingham Palace communications advisor Dickie Arbiter told Vanity Fair he thought Harry would ultimately regret speaking out and that the Palace was unlikely to comment as the saga continues to escalate.
“If Harry wants to engage he has to eat humble pie and he doesn’t show any signs of doing that,” he said. “From my perspective, the institution did a lot to help Harry but he got to a point where he stopped taking the advice. Harry’s always been stubborn. He was always going to go his own way and do his own thing. As for his book, I think he’ll regret not having pulled it. It’s done now. He can’t undo this.”
Among the revelations to emerge from the Bradby interview are Harry’s claims that William and Kate made Meghan feel unwelcome from the start of their relationship, buying into the stereotyping of Meghan as a famous American actress, who was a divorcée and is mixed race. Revealing that William and Kate were fans of Suits, the American legal drama in which Meghan starred, he said they were wary of his future wife from the outset.
Even though he was hopeful for the four of them to get along, it became, in Harry’s words, “Meghan versus Kate” and he claimed that as the “new kids on the block,” he and Meghan stole the limelight.
Harry told Bradby he spent the past six years trying to get through to his family, via letters, emails, and conversations but that they did not listen to his concerns about how he and Meghan were being treated in the press, or by the family and the institution, which he said “was really hard to take.” He also said the family gave him a “horrible” reception when he came over for the Queen’s funeral which he had hoped would be an opportunity for a reconciliation.
Perhaps the most crushing attack however was on the Queen Consort, who Harry accused of leaking stories and seeking marriage to Charles and ultimately the Crown. While Harry maintained he was ultimately happy that Camilla married his father, he suggested his stepmother planted stories in the press, saying, “Certain members have got in bed with the devil to rehabilitate their image, but that rehabilitation has come at the detriment of others.”
According to a close friend of Queen Consort Camilla, she has been left “just astounded by the whole thing.”
As Vanity Fair has previously reported, the King is keen to reconcile with his youngest son and is understood to want to extend an invitation to the Sussexes to the Coronation, which will take place in May. Charles wants to project an image of unity for the royal family and would like a genuine rapprochement with his youngest son.
However, sources close to the King have also said that Charles will not tolerate Harry attacking his wife and that Harry may have crossed a line by speaking about Camilla, of whom he said, “hurtful things have happened. Some in the past, some in the present.”
Princess Diana’s Dance With the Media
The King did not escape criticism with Harry, who said Charles was not cut out for solo parenting. He also said he does not recognize his brother or his father anymore and that “and they probably don’t recognize me.”
Over the course of the interview, Harry repeatedly blamed the British media, and his family for his departure from his royal duties, claiming that he loves his homeland and the British public.
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