Prince Harry has accused Queen Consort Camilla for leaking a private conversation and the Royal family for "planting and leaking" information to the media.
In anticipation of the release of Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, he has sat down with ITV journalist and long time friend, Tom Bradby to break down key moments from the book.
One shocking moment in the interview includes the discussion surrounding leaks by the Royal family to the UK media.
Referencing one leak in particular, Harry takes aim at his stepmother, Queen Consort Camilla claiming it was her who leaked a conversation between him, Camilla and Prince William.
Reading out a piece of his memoir Harry seemingly resentfully explains how he and William “begged” Charles not to marry Camilla before saying, “He didn’t answer. But she answered. Straight away. Shortly after our private summits with her, she began to play the long game.
“A campaign aimed marriage, and eventually the Crown, with Pa’s blessing we presumed.”
He then went on to say how accurate details from private conversations soon ended up in the press, one of those conversations took place in 1998 between Harry, William and Camilla.
Despite it being noted on record the leak was made by Camilla’s own private secretary, Amanda MacManus – who was later fired for the act – Harry claims this is not true and insists it was the Queen Consort herself who went to media with details about the conversation.
At the time media reported, MacManus told her husband, a media executive, who in turn was said to have told a former colleague, who told a newspaper.
Prince Harry speaking during an interview with ITV's Tom Bradby for the programme Harry: The Interview. Photo / PA via AP
Camilla swiftly put out a statement about the leak of the 1998 meeting, and MacManus said she was “very sorry”, adding: “It is a matter of great regret to me that chance remarks of mine led to the disclosure in the press of the private meeting between Mrs Parker Bowles and Prince William.”
Continuing on his allegations about the Royal family “planting and leaking” information to the press he said in his mind, they had written “countless books” and “millions of words … dedicated to trying to trash my wife”.
Asked how his brother would react to his airing of private conversations in public, Harry said: “He’d probably say all sorts of different things.”But you know, for the last however many years, let’s just focus on the last six years, the level of planting and leaking from other members of the family means that in my mind they have written countless books – certainly, millions of words have been dedicated to trying to trash my wife and myself to the point of where I had to leave my country.
”The distorted narrative is that we wanted to leave to go and make money.”
Harry has made multiple allegations about his family during the interview with Bradby but insists they are not “scathing”.
He told Bradby, “There are no parts that are scathing toward any member of my family. Especially my stepmother. [But] No institution is immune to accountability or taking responsibility. You can’t be immune to criticism either. My wife and I were scrutinised more than anybody else. I see a lack of scrutiny toward my family to a lot of things that have happened in the last year.”
Follow the Herald’s live updates of Harry’s ITV interview here.
