Shattering confessions that leak prematurely, several interviews to come: the soap opera of the publication of Prince Harry’s memoirs holds in suspense far beyond the United Kingdom, which sees the royal family tearing apart a little more four months before the coronation of the King Charles III.
After the revelations of his book The Alternateput on sale by mistake on Thursday in Spain, an interview with Prince Harry will be broadcast on Sunday at 4 p.m. (Eastern time) on British television ITV, before a second on the American channel CBS and a third on Monday on ABC, still in the USA.
In excerpts already broadcast, Prince Harry reiterates his desire for “reconciliation” with his family and says he hopes to “reconnect” with his father Charles and his brother William, heir to the throne, on condition of “establishing responsibilities” on the past, in particular his departure with his wife Meghan Markle for California in 2020.
Buckingham Palace remains officially silent on this avalanche of confidences for the moment, but denials and comments have begun to emerge in the British media.
The Sunday Times quotes relatives of Prince William saying that he is “sad”, that he is “burning inside”, but that “he remains silent for the good of his family and the country”. The Sunday Telegraph believes he knows that despite the abrasive content of the book, Charles III would be ready for a reconciliation and that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex should be invited to the king’s coronation in May.
Harry cast doubt on his intentions. “A lot can happen between now and then” but “the ball is in their court,” he said in his interview with ITV.
However, hopes of a rapprochement seem very slim, as Harry spares no one in his memoirs which will be officially published on Tuesday, in particular his brother, already scratched in the docuseries “Harry & Meghan” broadcast on Netflix in December.
The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex calls William a ‘beloved brother and sworn enemy’ and accuses him of knocking him to the ground during a 2019 row over Meghan, whom Harry married the year previous.
According to The Daily MailHarry also reveals that he did not actually witness his brother’s wedding, citing a “shameless lie”.
“Very proud” of the royal family
Many passages in the book also testify to the trauma left by the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a road accident in Paris in 1997.
In a new trailer for his ITV interview, Harry admits to having “cried only once, at his funeral”, and recounts his discomfort when he and his brother had to shake hands with people who came to meditate at the time in front of Kensington Palace in London.
In the British press, reactions alternate between disbelief at the intimacy of certain anecdotes told by Harry, such as his loss of virginity, his drug use, and indignation at what is considered a frontal attack from the royal family.
In particular, Harry’s confidences in the fact that he killed 25 Taliban fighters during his missions in Afghanistan caused a huge outcry. Several senior British army officers strongly condemned his remarks, which made even the Taliban react, a senior official accusing him of “war crimes”.
The Duke of Sussex would have had the will to cancel the release of the book last summer after a trip to the United Kingdom to attend the Queen’s Jubilee, according to Tea Times citing sources close to the publishing house Penguin Random House, which paid several million dollars to publish these highly anticipated memoirs.
Interviewed by the BBC on Sunday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak repeated that he did not want to comment on the book’s revelations, but said he was “very proud” of the royal family. “I’m proud of it and, I think, the country too. We saw this last year in a very moving way on several occasions, and I am confident that we will see it this year with the coronation of the king,” he said.