Prince Harry does not say whether he will be attending his father’s coronation in May in the latest trailer of an upcoming TV interview. He says he still believes in the monarchy, but when asked if he will play a part in its future, he replies: “I don’t know.”
Friday 6 January 2023 10:26, UK
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Prince Harry has said the “door is always open” to his family for reconciliation – but “the ball is in their court”.
Asked in the latest ITV clip if he would be attending his father’s coronation in May, he says: “There’s a lot that can happen between now and then.
“But you know, the door is always open. The ball is in their court.
“There is a lot to be discussed and I really hope that they are willing to sit down and talk about it.”
Watch Sky News special programme at 7pm tonight: Harry’s book – what we’ve learned
Harry says: “I don’t know how staying silent is ever going to make things better.”
Put to him that some people would say he has railed against invasions of his privacy all his life – and now he is invading the privacy of his nearest and dearest without permission – Harry replies: “That would be the accusation… from the people that don’t understand, or don’t want to believe, that my family have been briefing the press.”
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Asked if he believes in the monarchy, the prince says, “yes”, but when further pressed if he will play a part in its future, he replies: “I don’t know.”
It comes after a leaked extract of his highly anticipated autobiography, Spare, to The Guardian newspaper, reportedly claims he was physically attacked by his brother during a row over the younger prince’s marriage to Meghan.
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‘I landed on the dog’s bowl… the pieces cutting into me’
The incident allegedly took place at Nottingham Cottage in 2019 when Harry was living there and started when William arrived and complained about the American actress.
He goes on to allege William had called Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”.
The Duke of Sussex claims the Prince of Wales was being irrational, leading to the siblings shouting over each other and exchanging insults.
“It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me,” Harry reportedly wrote in the book.
“I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out,” the excerpt continued.
Read more:
Royal rift: Hard to know how princes William and Harry come back from this
Harry’s leaked book alleges William attacked him over Meghan
What to expect from Prince Harry’s memoir
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‘Now you’ve given me an heir and a spare’
Harry alleges William urged him to hit back but he refused. Shortly afterwards though, the elder brother apologised, according to The Guardian’s copy.
William then told his brother not to tell Meghan about the confrontation. Harry said: “You mean that you attacked me?” – to which William replied: “I didn’t attack you, Harold.”
Royal correspondent
Just a few years ago it would have been unimaginable to read something like this.
They were two brothers who could not have seemed closer.
We loved seeing them together, we all enjoyed that easy banter between them, like the moment I asked Prince William how he felt to be Prince Harry’s best man, “revenge is sweet, Rhiannon, revenge is sweet,” he replied in front of his brother.
It was a bond cemented by their shared experience of losing their mother and flourished more recently with the work they were so proud of around mental health.
All families and siblings have their disagreements, but from the leaked extract from Harry’s new book this split between him and William appears to be more deep and painful than we may have thought, and ultimately unreconciled.
With Harry apparently willing to speak so openly about the rift, it sets fire to any suggestion of olive branches being extended and accepted around the Queen’s death.
Read the full analysis here
According to The Guardian, Harry also recounts in the book what his father said to his mother Diana on the day of his birth.
Harry claims the King told the then Princess of Wales: “Wonderful! Now you’ve given me an heir and a spare – my work is done.”
Sky News has approached Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, and both said they will not be commenting on the allegations.
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‘They’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile’
In a trailer released earlier this week for the upcoming ITV interview by journalist Tom Bradby, Harry says: “I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back”.
Filmed in California where the duke now lives, he says “I want a family, not an institution” and “they’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile”.
“It never needed to be this way,” says the duke, and refers to “the leaking and the planting”.
The interview will be broadcast on Sunday – two days before Harry’s autobiography Spare is published on 10 January.
In a separate interview with CBS News, due to air the same day, Harry criticises Buckingham Palace over an alleged failure to defend him and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, before they stepped down as senior royals.
Last month, the couple’s Netflix documentary series contained new allegations against the Royal Family, as the Sussexes also hit out at their treatment at the hands of the media.
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