Prince Harry’s much-anticipated interview with British broadcaster Tom Bradby aired on Sunday night – and the Duke of Sussex is dominating the headlines once again in the wake of the ITV special.
The subject of the interview was Harry’s upcoming memoir Spare, and while much of his memoir leaked early last week when it was mistakenly published ahead of time in some markets, the Duke still had plenty to say for himself.
As well as making claims about his family members, Harry also spoke for the first time about a number of subjects, including Jeremy Clarkson’s recent column about his wife Meghan Markle, the controversy surrounding Lady Susan Hussey at Buckingham Palace and accusations of racism that had been levelled at certain members of the Royal Family.
Here are the 15 biggest talking points from the 90-minute interview:
1. Prince Harry accused members of the Royal Family of “getting into bed with the devil” by collaborating with the tabloid media
“After many, many years of lies being told about me and my family, there comes a point where again, going back to the relationship between certain members of the family and the tabloid press, those certain members have decided to get into bed with the devil,” the Duke claimed.
“If you need to do that, or you want to do that, you choose to do that – well, that is a choice. That’s up to you.
“But the moment that rehabilitation comes at the detriment of others – me, other members of my family – then that’s where I draw the line.”
“At the moment, I don’t recognise them,” he said of his father and brother, noting: “As much as they probably don’t recognise me.”
2. The Duke of Sussex denied accusing members of the Royal Family of racism in his and the Duchess’ interview with Oprah Winfrey
One of the biggest talking points from Harry and Meghan’s 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey was the allegation that an unnamed member of the Royal Family had expressed “concern” about their son Archie’s skin colour before was born.
When this was brought up during Harry’s latest interview with ITV, he refuted that this was racist, instead highlighting it an example of unconscious bias.
He flat out denied accusing the undisclosed relative of racism, insisting: “The British press said that.”
Instead, he said: “I wouldn’t [say that was racist], not having lived within that family. The difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different.
“But once it’s been acknowledged, or pointed out to you as an individual, or as an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you therefore have an opportunity to learn and grow from that in order so that you are part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
“Otherwise unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism.”
“Yes, you’re right the key word is concern, which was troubling,” he added later in the interview.
“But you speak to any other mixed-race couple around the world, and you will probably find that the white side of the family have either openly discussed it, or secretly discussed, you know, ‘What are the kids gonna look like?’. And that is part of a bigger conversation that needs to be had.”
3. Harry defended the Queen’s former lady in waiting Lady Susan Hussey
Of his own accord, Harry brought up the controversy surrounding former Buckingham Palace aide Lady Susan Hussey last year.
Ngozi Fulani, founder of the charity Sistah Space which supports women of African and Caribbean heritage affected by abuse, claimed she was left feeling violated by Hussey when attending a reception in November.
Fulani, who is Black, alleged that the aide in question moved her hair to reveal her name badge, before questioning the guest over where “her people” came from 10 minutes after she arrived at the event.
On her social media account, Fulani said she repeatedly said she was a British national, while the royal aide allegedly said: “I can see I am going to have a challenge getting you to say where you’re from.”
Following this, Hussey met with Fulani at Buckingham Palace, where a spokesperson said she “offered her sincere apologies for the comments that were made and the distress they caused to Ms Fulani”.
Bringing up the matter during his ITV interview, Prince Harry said: “I’m very happy for Ngozi Fulani to be invited into the palace to sit down with Lady Susan Hussey um, and to reconcile, because Meghan and I love Susan Hussey.
“She thinks she’s great. And I also know that what she meant… she never meant any harm at all.
“But the response from the British press, and from people online because of the stories that they wrote was horrendous.”
4. He also pointed out that introducing certain new measures at the palace had not happened as previously promised
Claiming the incident involving Susan Hussey was a “very good example of the environment within the institution”, he added: “After our Oprah interview, they said that they were going to bring in a diversity tsar.
“That hasn’t happened. Everything they said was going to happen hasn’t happened.
“I’ve always been open to wanting to help them understand their part in it, and especially when you are the monarchy – you have a responsibility, and quite rightly people hold you to a higher standard than others.”
5. Prince Harry addressed Jeremy Clarkson’s infamous column about Meghan Markle for the first time
Towards the end of last year, Clarkson faced a huge backlash over a column about Meghan Markle, published in The Sun days after the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan concluded.
In the article, the Top Gear host described how much he “hates” the Duchess of Sussex on a “cellular level”, adding that he dreams of the day “when she is made to parade naked through the streets” while crowds “throw lumps of excrement at her”.
After more than 20,000 complaints were filed, The Sun issued an apology, and removed the article from their website at Clarkson’s request.
Specifically naming Clarkson during his ITV interview, Harry said: “Not only did what he said was horrific and is hurtful and cruel towards my wife, but it also encourages other people around the UK and around the world, men particularly, to go and think that it’s acceptable to treat women that way.
“To use my stepmother’s words recently as well, there is a global pandemic of violent – violence against women.
“It’s no longer a case of me asking for accountability, but at this point the world is asking for accountability, and the world is asking for some form of comment from the monarchy but the silence is deafening.”
6. He also spoke at length about the death of his mum, Princess Diana
Early on in the interview, Harry said he recalled crying only once in the wake of his mother’s death, at her burial.
He then spoke of a search for closure in the years that followed, which included driving through the tunnel where she died at the same speed her car had been going.
The Duke also said he was “eternally grateful” to his private secretary for showing him select photos taken at the scene of his mum’s accident.
“I will remain eternally grateful for Jamie for showing me, what he believed I needed to see, but removing the stuff that he knew I didn’t need to see,” he explained.
“I don’t know where I’d be now if I saw the stuff that I wanted to see, that I demanded to see.”
Harry said more “descriptive photographs” had been removed, but in the images he saw the reflection “of all the paparazzi in the window” while his mother lay dying – the idea of which “still hurts”.
He said: “I saw the back of her blonde hair slumped on the back of the seat. There were other photographs, that would probably show my mother’s face and blood. And those, I assume were the ones that Jamie removed. And I’m grateful to him for that.
“I was looking for evidence that it actually happened, that it was true. But I was also looking for something to hurt, because at that point I was still pretty numb to the whole thing.”
7. Harry also reflected on his father King Charles’ parenting
Speaking about his father, Harry said the King had “always given an air of not being quite ready for parenthood – the responsibilities, the patience, the time”.
“Even he, though a proud man, would have admitted as much,” he claimed, adding: “But single parenthood? Pa was never made for that.”
In a passage from his book Spare, Harry was also heard narrating: “Over dinner one night at Highgrove, Pa and I spoke at some length about what I’d been suffering. I gave him the particulars, told him story after story.
“Towards the end of the meal he looked down at his plate and said softly, ‘I suppose it’s my fault. I should have got you the help you needed years ago’.
“I assured him that it wasn’t his fault, but I appreciated the apology.”
Harry told Tom Bradby: “He’s my father. I will always love him.”
8. Harry shrugged off the suggestion he’d been “scathing” about his stepmother, the Queen Consort, in his book
Midway through the interview, Tom Bradby said: “I want to sort of just briefly talk about your stepmother and the press because you, you are pretty consistently scathing.”
Responding to this, Harry said: “There’s no part of any of the things that I’ve said are scathing towards any member of my family, especially not my stepmother.
“There are things that have happened that have been incredibly hurtful – some in the past, some current.
“No institution is immune to accountability or taking responsibility, so you can’t be immune to criticisms either.”
9. But he did have a few things to say about the Queen Consort…
As part of the interview, Harry was heard reading an extract from his book in which he said his stepmum played “the long game” when it came to marrying his father.
“‘We support you’ we said, ‘We endorse Camilla’ we said. ‘Just please don’t marry her, just be together, Pa’,” Harry recalled he and his brother told King Charles
“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 at marriage, and eventually the Crown, with Pa’s blessing we presumed.”
10. He went on to discuss his tumultuous relationship with his brother Prince William – including a week-long row about whether he should be allowed to sport a beard at his wedding
Yes, a supposed argument about Prince Harry’s beard took up more airtime than anyone might have expected.
Harry said he’d been keen to keep his beard for his 2018 nuptials, as it felt to him like an emblem of the “new Harry” and a “shield” against the anxiety he felt.
The late Queen obliged, but his brother was apparently less enthusiastic.
“There’s a level of competition there,” Harry claimed. “I remembered that William had a beard himself and that Granny and other people, the ones to tell – told him that he had to shave it off
““I think William found it hard that other people told him to shave it off, and yet here I was on my wedding day wearing military uniform, no longer in the military, but thinking as though I – believing as though I should shave it off before my wedding day.
“And I said ‘well, I don’t believe that Meghan’s gonna recognise me if she comes up the aisle and sees me beardless’.”
11. Harry also spoke about the physical altercation between them he alleges happened at his house
When he first brought up the incident during the interview, Harry began by pointing it was not unusual for himself and his brother to scrap when they were children.
“[When] we were kids, we used to shoot each other with BB guns, we used to have firework fights, all of this stuff that I talk about in the book,” he explained.
“What was different here was this level of frustration. I talk about the red mist that I had for so many years, and I saw this red mist in him.”
Harry went on to claim: “I can pretty much guarantee today that if I wasn’t doing therapy sessions like I was and being able to process that anger and frustration that I would’ve fought back.”
12. Harry defended having written about his family in his new book Spare
On why now felt like the right time to write his memoir, Harry told Tom Bradby: “38 years of having my story told by so many different people with intentional spin and distortion felt like a good time to own my story and be able to tell it for myself.
“You know, I don’t, I don’t think that if I was still part of the institution that I would have been given this chance to.
“So, I’m actually really grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to tell my story because it’s my story to tell.”
Asked what his brother would have to say after reading Spare, Harry continued: “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.”
13. And he hit back at claims he’s “burned his bridges”
Tom Bradby put to Harry that he’d not so much “burned bridges” with his family as “taken a flamethrower to them”, although that’s now how the Duke saw it.
“Silence only allows the abuser to abuse. I’m not sure how honesty is burning bridges.”
14. Despite it all Harry said he’s keen to reconcile with members of his family, hoping a reunion could cause a “ripple effect” globally
“I genuinely believe, and I hope, that reconciliation between my family and us will have a ripple effect across the entire world,” he said. “Maybe that’s lofty, maybe that’s naïve, whatever. But I genuinely feel that.
“And knowing the monarchy as I know it from something that I was brought up in, for me it’s always been about uniting people.”
However, he added: “They’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile up until this point.”
15. The interview did end on a positive note
Harry claimed he’s “never been happier” at the end of the exchange.
Prince Harry: The Interview is available to watch in full on ITVX, as is the Duke Of Sussex’s 60 Minutes interview with US broadcaster Anderson Cooper.