Prince Harry – live: Spare signals ‘beginning of end’ of monarchy as ITV interview looms - The Independent

‘Harry: The Interview’ - what do we know so far?

There is just over an hour to go before Prince Harry’s hotly anticipated interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby arrives on our screens.

Last night, the broadcaster offered viewers a brief glimpse at what was to come in a short teaser clip, during which the Duke of Sussex was seen reflecting on being “unable to show any emotion” while greeting mourners after the death of his mother Diana.

He also revealed he only cried “once” after the former Princess of Wales was killed in a car crash in Paris, 25 years ago.

Harry was was later captured refusing to commit to attending King Charles’s coronation if he is invited, telling Bradby: “The ball is in their court.”

Harry: The Interview will be broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX at 9pm on Sunday (8 January). Follow along here for live updates.

Emily Atkinson8 January 2023 19:30

Prince Harry memoir includes anecdotes showing ‘tender’ relationship with father, report suggests

Alongside some criticisms of his father in his memoir, Prince Harry is also reported to have included numerous anecdotes about King Charles conveying his warmth.

These include revelations that the monarch used to ask his son, who he called “darling boy”, to write rather than call him, as he “loved” the letters Harry sent, and would leave notes under his son’s pillow, sitting on his bed until he fell asleep to ease his fear of the dark, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

A “bemused” King also reportedly empathised with his younger son when photographs of him playing naked billiards appeared in the tabloids, and said that he had also felt “exposed” on many occasions, with the pair speaking all night about their unusual life, the paper reports.

A royal source told the paper: “It would have been odd if Harry had painted anything other than a tender portrait of his father. They were very, very close and it would be impossible to hide that reality if you wanted to write your whole history.”

Emily Atkinson8 January 2023 19:00

Prince Harry fallout ‘could mark beginning of the end’ of monarchy, says King Charles biographer

Prince Harry’s memoir and the continuous toxicity of the royal family rupture could “mark the beginning of the end of the monarchy”, a biographer of King Charles has suggested.

The book’s release is “not just a celebrity knockabout story”, Catherine Mayer warned, arguing that “the status of a significant institution of state” is ultimately at stake – its peril exacerbated by the “layers of secrecy and obfuscation” surrounding the royals.

A wave of leaked extracts of the Duke of Sussex’s book Spare days ahead of its publication, fuelled by its accidental early release in Spain, crashed over Buckingham Palace this week, laying bare the scale of discontent at the heart of the royal family in often excruciating detail.

Andy Gregory reports:

Emily Atkinson8 January 2023 18:30

King Charles ‘must avoid mountain of resentment’, insider suggests

Those close to King Charles are claimed to believe that reconciliation is the only way to prevent “open warfare” for years to come.

“The challenge here is not to build a mountain of resentment that cannot be bypassed,” one source told the Sunday Telegraph. “In many ways the Royal family is no different to any other family and it will be their normality, rather than their uniqueness, which offers their greatest chance of reconciliation.

“Although Harry resents the role he was dealt within the institution, it is the fact that they are father and son that will bring them back together.”

Andy Gregory8 January 2023 17:50

Smiling King seen for first time since Harry’s tell-all book published

A smiling King Charles appeared in good spirits as he was seen for the first time since allegations from Prince Harry’s memoir emerged, stopping to speak with well-wishers outside a service at Castle Rising Chuch in Norfolk this morning.

Andy Gregory8 January 2023 17:03

Prince Harry condemned by Caroline Flack’s former agent for sharing details on ‘tainted’ romance

Prince Harry has been condemned by Caroline Flack’s former agent for sharing details in his new memoir about his romance with the late star, which he reportedly writes was “tainted” by press intrusion, reports Ellie Harrison.

“She was described in one paper as my ‘bit of rough’, because she once worked in a factory or something,” he continued. “Jesus, I thought, are we really such a country of insufferable snobs?” he reportedly recalls.

They “kept on” seeing each other, Harry wrote, “because we genuinely enjoyed each other’s company, and because we didn’t want to admit defeat at the hands of these arseholes”, but eventually “realised it just wasn’t worth the grief and harassment. Especially for her family.”

Flack’s former agent Alex Mullen, speaking to The Mirror, branded the duke’s actions as “gross” and accused him of using his past relationship to help sell his book, saying: “It’s absolutely gross for Prince Harry to reveal such private details about Caroline Flack.

“The way in which the press spoke about her at that time and the reason they split are both very sad and it’s disgusting he’s brought up old long forgotten slurs she had to suffer in full view of the public around the world.”

Andy Gregory8 January 2023 16:14

The ‘country is proud of’ royal family, Rishi Sunak says

Rishi Sunak has defended the royal family as an institution which the “country is proud of”.

Asked whether the public can still have faith in the institution after claims in the Duke of Sussex’s forthcoming book, the prime minister told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “I think the public like me have enormous regard for the royal family, they’re deeply proud of them.

“I certainly am, it’s one of the things I’m most proud of when I think about what it is to be British. When I get to go around the world and champion Britain as an amazing country with so many things that we can be proud of, our institutions including the royal family are one of those.”

Questioned on whether he felt the royals have been damaged by Harry’s allegations, Mr Sunak said: “In general I wouldn’t get into talking about the royal family but it’s something that I’m proud of and I think the country is proud of.

“We saw that last year very movingly multiple times and I’m confident we’ll see it this year with King Charles’s coronation, which will be another fantastic occasion for the country to come together and celebrate something that’s special about Britain.”

Andy Gregory8 January 2023 15:28

King Charles ‘insisted on never complain, never explain response’, palace insider reportedly claims

A palace insider claiming to have knowlege of past discussions about what Prince Harry’s memoir may contain has claimed that it was King Charles who ultimately insisted on the family responding with its standard “never complain, never explain” strategy.

The source claimed to Page Six: “The King wanted to move ahead with the traditional ‘stiff upper lip’ attitude and follow in the Queen’s famous footsteps of ‘never complain, never explain’, but the Prince of Wales argued that perhaps the family should, in fact, go on the offensive and release a statement, much in the same way he said ‘We are very much not a racist family’, but he was overruled by his father.”

However, an individual reported to be a close friend of Prince William told the Sunday Times that despite being a “sitting duck” in the face of his brother’s claims about him, the heir to the throne had kept quiet “for the good of his family and the country” and would “never retaliate”.

Andy Gregory8 January 2023 14:46

Palace advisers set up de-facto ‘war room’ to plan for fallout from memoir, report claims

The royal family’s senior advisers set up a de-facto “war room” to deal with any potential fallout from Prince Harry’s memoir, the US publication Page Six has claimed.

Insiders reportedly claim a plan was drawn up to deal whatever revelations emerged from the forthcoming book, with senior staff even discussing the issue at Sandringham over Christmas.

One highly placed palace source told the outlet: “There were undoubtedly fears about what Harry was going to write, and in particular they were worried about the highly personal moments of their lives being retold.”

Andy Gregory8 January 2023 13:59

Opinion | Warring royals should take a long walk with their father

In his latest Centrist Dad column, our former executive editor Will Gore suggests that there are no winners in the latest royal rumble – except perhaps for arch republicans. He writes:

“Whether or not William grabbed Harry by the collar and pushed him into a dog bowl, as Harry alleges in his eagerly anticipated memoir, the breakdown of their relationship – and the telling of it, both officially and unofficially – isn’t a good look for either of them.

“It’s not quite Game of Thrones territory; more like posh EastEnders. And as it happens, the older the princes get, the more it’s possible to imagine them being played by Ross Kemp and Steve McFadden.

“ ... Perhaps King Charles could try a tactic with his boys that I’ve used with my kids. Take them on such a long walk together that the resentment they feel towards one another is eventually transferred to the idiot parent who forced them on the trek in the first place. It’s definitely worked for me.”

You can read the full piece here:

Andy Gregory8 January 2023 13:12