Barely a week before the planned publication of his memoirs, Britain's Prince Harry has expressed regret over the break with his family. "I would like to have my father back. I would like to have my brother back," said the 38-year-old renegade royal in several excerpts of an interview that the British broadcaster ITV advertised with a short trailer on Monday. It is slated to air Sunday, just two days before the book's scheduled release, titled "Spare." The US broadcaster CBS has already announced an interview about the autobiography described as "explosive".
In the ITV interview, Harry makes it clear: "I want a family, not an institution" and sums up that it "never had to come to this". But his words don't sound too forgiving. He complains that he and his wife Meghan (41) are portrayed as villains and that there was "absolutely no will for reconciliation" from the other side. Harry also complains that information has been shared and rumors started. It is unclear who exactly he is referring to with his statements. In the Netflix documentary, he often blamed the palace staff or the tabloid media for the family strife - less often his brother and father. It is eagerly awaited whether he will bring up further concrete allegations in the memoirs.
Broke up three years ago
Harry and his wife Meghan had fallen out with the other royals and broke away from the inner circle of the royal family about three years ago. Especially with his father, King Charles III. (74) and his brother Prince William (40), who is now heir to the throne, Harry had fallen out. Public statements and allegations, for example in a TV interview with US talk show legend Oprah Winfrey, had deepened the ditch. There was no reconciliation that was hoped for either after the death of Prince Philips in 2021 or after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year. Most recently, Harry and Meghan poured fuel on the fire with a six-part Netflix docu-series in which they present their point of view.
The couple's allegations of racist statements against Meghan, who has partly African-American roots, and targeted disclosure of information and even disinformation to the press weighed particularly heavily. In the Netflix documentary, Harry accused his father of lying at a family crisis meeting and that William yelled at him.
King Charles and the other royals were recently unimpressed. You waited in vain for a direct reaction from the palace to the Netflix series. Only the absence of Harry and Meghan when the larger royal family appeared together during the Advent season and at Christmas reminded them that the house blessing at the Windsors is really crooked.
