LONDON –
Prince Harry is expected to be more critical of the royal family in interviews to promote his soul-baring new memoir, which has generated inflammatory headlines even before its official publication.
A pre-recorded interview for Britain’s ITV is scheduled to air on Sunday night. CBS’ “60 Minutes” will interview the prince later, and he will appear on “Good Morning America” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
In excerpts previously released, Harry told ITV journalist Tom Bradby that he had only cried once since his mother, Prince Diana, died in 1997 – at her funeral. He said he felt guilty for showing no emotion as he and his brother Prince William greeted crowds of mourners outside Kensington Palace, Diana’s London home.
In the book Spare, Harry blames his tight upper lip on his family, saying he had “learned all too well the family maxim that crying is not an option”.
“There were 50,000 bouquets of flowers for our mum and we were shaking hands with people, smiling,” Harry told ITV. “I saw the videos, didn’t I, I looked back on everything. And the wet hands we shook, we couldn’t understand why their hands were wet, but it was all the tears they were wiping away.
“Everyone thought and felt as if they knew our mother, and the two people closest to her, the two people she loved the most, could not show any emotion at that moment.”
“Spare” is the latest in a series of public statements by the prince and his wife Meghan since they left royal life and moved to California in 2020, citing what they saw as racist media treatment of Meghan, who is biracial. and lack of support from the palace. It follows an interview with Oprah Winfrey and a six-part Netflix documentary released last month.
The Associated Press purchased a Spanish copy of the book ahead of its worldwide release on Tuesday.
In the ghost-written memoir, Harry, 38, details the couple’s acrimonious split with the royal family in 2020 after their offer of a part-time royal role was rejected. Harry contrasted the withdrawal of taxpayer-funded security for the couple with the case of his uncle, Prince Andrew, who was removed as working royal because of his friendship with US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Last year, Andrew settled a lawsuit from a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her while she was traveling with financier Epstein when she was 17. Andrew paid an undisclosed amount as part of the settlement but did not admit wrongdoing.
Harry claimed no one had considered removing Andrew’s guard despite the “disgraceful scandal”.
The book also explores Harry’s grief over his mother’s death and his long-simmering resentment of the role of royal ‘back-up’, overshadowed by ‘heir’ older brother William. He recounts arguments and a physical altercation with William, reveals how he lost his virginity (in a field), and describes his use of cocaine and cannabis.
He also says he killed 25 Taliban fighters while serving as an Apache helicopter pilot in Afghanistan – a claim criticized by both the Taliban and British military veterans.
Royal officials have not commented on the allegations, although allies have rejected the claims, largely anonymously.
Veteran British journalist Jonathan Dimbleby, a biographer and friend of King Charles III, said on Saturday that Harry’s revelations were of the type “you would expect from a B-list sort of celebrity” and that the king would be hurt and disappointed by them.
In the ITV interview, Harry says he wants a reconciliation with the royal family but “the ball is in their court”.
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