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Speaking his truth. Prince Harry got real about how his openness in Spare may affect his family in England — and why it didn’t play a part in his choice to write the book.
“I don’t see how honesty is burning bridges,” Harry, 38, said during his ITV interview, which aired in the U.K. on Sunday, January 8. “I don’t know how staying silent is going to make things any better.”
The Duke of Sussex revealed that he chose to release his memoir, which comes out on Tuesday, January 10, to finally set the record straight about his upbringing, relationship with Meghan Markle and more.
“[After] 38 years of having my story told by so many different people with intentional spin and distortion, [I] felt like [this was] a good time to own my story and be able to tell it for myself,” the prince explained on Sunday. “I don’t think that if I was still part of the Institution that I would have been given this chance to.”
The Archewell cofounder, who stepped back from his royal duties in 2020, added: “I’m actually really grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to tell my story because it’s my story to tell.”
When it comes to his strained relationship with his family, especially King Charles III and Prince William, Harry insisted that the book wasn’t meant to “harm them or hurt them.”
He claimed that the “truth is something I need to rely on,” which is why he shared personal stories that may not always paint his father, 74, and brother, 40, in the best light.
While Harry slammed William in the book for allegedly calling his wife, 41, “rude” after their 2018 wedding and detailed his complex relationship with the king, the Invictus Games founder alleged on Sunday that his main issue has always been with the royal family’s involvement with the British press.
“My problem has never been with the monarchy, nor the concept of the monarchy,” he told host Tom Bradby. “It has been with the press and the sick relationship that’s evolved between [the press] and the Palace.”
Harry claimed that his family has “tried to control” the U.K. tabloids “for years” and is still “trying to control it.” Throughout the quest to steer the narrative, the former military pilot claimed that false stories were leaked about him and Meghan, as well as their children, Archie, 3, and Lili, 19 months.
He further alleged that “certain members” of the royal family have “decided to get in bed with the devil to rehabilitate their image” over the years.
That being said, the BetterUp CIO insisted that he is “100 percent” open to forgiveness with Charles and William.
“I sit here now in front of you asking for a family,” he concluded. “Not an institution. I want a family. And I understand how that might be hard for them to be able to separate the two, but to me everything that I’ve witnessed and experienced over the years, there has to be a separation.”
Spare hits bookshelves on Tuesday, January 10.