Prince Harry's new book is said to be "... tough on William in particular, and even Kate gets a bit of a broadside," according to a source who alleges to have knowledge about the Duke of Sussex's memoir, Spare. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Harry's new book is said to be "... tough on William in particular, and even Kate gets a bit of a broadside," according to a source who alleges to have knowledge about the Duke of Sussex's memoir, Spare. Photo / Getty Images
The Duke of Sussex has made clear that he thinks he and his wife have been cast as the “villains” in the increasingly toxic modern day Royal family fairytale.
Brief clips released on Monday of two interviews the Duke has conducted to promote his memoir suggested that he does not shoulder any blame for the ongoing rift with his father and brother.
Instead, he appears to believe that the ball is in his family’s court - suggesting that he is ready and willing to reconcile, if only they are too.
But as he launches a publicity blitz to promote his “explosive” book, called Spare, the Duke appears determined to continue the attacks on his family - risking damaging his relationships with them beyond repair.
Prince Harry spoke to Tom Bradby, the ITV News at Ten anchor, for a 90-minute special, called Harry: The Interview, to be broadcast on Sunday evening.
The brothers’ relationship, already hanging in the balance, will come under renewed strain - with reports suggesting the memoir will be particularly “tough on William”.
The television interviews will act as a preview, whetting the palate for the detailed - and potentially far more damaging - allegations to come.
They were considered necessary to allow the Duke to set out his stall ahead of the book’s release, to describe his intent and the process behind it.
However, for the royals, they will only prolong the pain.
Further trailers will be released this week to maximise publicity.
They represent the third time that the Duke and/or the Duchess have given interviews criticising the Royal family that have been widely trailed in advance. Their Oprah Winfrey interview and their recent Netflix series dominated headlines for days.
Harry and Meghan lay into the British press in their Netflix show. Photo / Netflix
It is not the first time the Sussexes have used Bradby to air their grievances.
In an October 2019 interview in South Africa, the Duchess said “not many people” had asked if she was okay when asked how she was feeling by Bradby.
The Duke told him that he and the then Duke of Cambridge were on “different paths”.
The journalist has known both Harry and William since the brothers were teenagers and will be considered a safe pair of hands. The trio’s friendship blossomed when Bradby was appointed ITN’s royal correspondent in 2001, a job he gave up in 2005 to become the broadcaster’s political editor.
His closeness to the Prince of Wales became public knowledge during the phone hacking scandal, when stories about how he had lent the royal some recording equipment were published.
However, he is said to have been cut off by the heir to the throne after nailing his colours to the Sussexes’ mast when the brothers fell out.
Meghan Markle was interviewed by Tom Bradby (pictured) for an ITV documentary. Photo / ITV
“It used to be quite a straightforward thing, right, because they weren’t arguing and life was simple,” he told The Times in May 2021, when he was discussing his relationship with the brothers.
“And then it just slowly descended into something that was difficult – personally and publicly – really over the past year and a half.”
In Jan 2020, Bradby wrote a piece for The Sunday Times describing the modern House of Windsor as “poisonous and frankly Machiavellian”.
The Duke has also spoken to veteran American broadcaster Anderson Cooper for his CBS News programme, 60 Minutes, to be broadcast just three hours after the ITV programme on Sunday evening.
Mr Cooper is a member of the Vanderbilt dynasty and shares the Duke’s passion for promoting mental health. His podcast about loss and grief, called All There Is, was prompted by the death of his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, his father, Wyatt Cooper, and his brother, Carter, who killed himself in 1988 aged 23.
In 2020, Mr Cooper interviewed Afua Hirsch, the British author and historian who features heavily in the Sussexes’ Netflix series - during which she described the Commonwealth as “Empire 2.0″.
The Duke tells Mr Cooper that he and the Duchess had only been public in their criticism of the Royal family because “every single time I’ve tried to do this privately there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife”.
He claims that Buckingham Palace aides “spoon-fed information” to royal correspondents before officially declining to comment.
“So when we are being told for the last six years we can’t put something out to protect you, but you do it for other members of the family, there comes a point when silence is betrayal,” he added.
One brief CBS trailer describes the book as “explosive”.
It showed the Duke and Cooper deep in conversation, first strolling outside and then seated together indoors - with Harry gesticulating with his hands as if to emphasise that he was providing the “full picture”.
Mr Cooper’s great aunt, Thelma Furness, his grandmother’s sister, had an affair with Edward VIII - Harry’s great, great uncle - when he was Prince of Wales, but was replaced in his affections by Wallis Simpson.
Anderson Cooper with his mother, the late Gloria Vanderbilt. Photo / Getty Images
The interview appears to have been filmed at Churchill cottage at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, California, an exclusive hotel not far from the Sussexes’ Montecito home.
The resort, which boasts 38 vine-covered cottages, was also used by the Duchess of Sussex for a Variety magazine interview and photoshoot last year.
Churchill cottage is described as an “historic 1,450sq ft retreat” used by Winston Churchill “while he was writing one of his many tomes”. It costs between $7,000 (NZD $11,00) and $8,000 ($12,600) a night.
A source with knowledge of Spare, which is ghost-written by JR Moehringer, told The Sunday Times they believed the memoir would cause irrevocable damage to Harry and William’s relationship.
