World

Prince Harry: 'I want my father and brother back'

07:15 am on 3 January 2023

Prince Harry spoke to CBS and ITV ahead of the release of his autobiography. Photo: AFP

Prince Harry has said "I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back," in a trailer for an interview ahead of the release of his autobiography.

In the trailer, for the sit-down interview with ITV's Tom Bradby, he says "they've shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile," although it is not clear who he is referring to.

The prince also said he was "betrayed" in a trailer for US broadcaster CBS.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

CBS and ITV have only released short trailers for their programmes. Both interviews will be broadcast on 8 January, two days before his autobiography Spare is published.

In the CBS trailer, Prince Harry - the Duke of Sussex - speaks to CBS 60 Minutes journalist Anderson Cooper in a chat the broadcaster described as "explosive".

The duke claims he was "betrayed" with "briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife".

"The family motto is 'never complain, never explain', but it's just a motto," he said.

"They will feed or have a conversation with a correspondent, and that correspondent will literally be spoon-fed information and write the story, and at the bottom of it, they will say they have reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.

"But the whole story is Buckingham Palace commenting.

"So when we're being told for the last six years, 'we can't put a statement out to protect you', but you do it for other members of the family, there becomes a point when silence is betrayal."

ITV said its interview would cover Prince Harry's personal relationships and "never-before-heard details" surrounding the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

Filmed in California where the Sussexes live, the ITV sit-down will also see the duke refer to "the leaking and the planting" of stories, before adding: "I want a family, not an institution".

"They feel as though it is better to keep us somehow as the villains," he said.

Prince Harry's autobiography Spare, which is anticipated to give details about disagreements with his brother the Prince William, will be released on 10 January.

Publisher Penguin Random House calls it "a landmark publication full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief".

The autobiography follows the release of Netflix documentary Harry and Meghan, in which Prince Harry said it was "terrifying" to have his brother "scream and shout" at him during a summit to discuss the couple's future in the Royal Family. Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the claims made in the programme.

The Sussexes also talked about why they decided to give up royal duties and move to the US, criticising the British press and the inner workings of the royal institution.

-BBC