Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Fionnuala Boyle & Abbie Meehan

The 12 bombshells Prince Harry shared on ITV and CBS interviews including bizarre beard row

Prince Harry sat down on Sunday night for the first of his promotional interviews for his upcoming memoir, Spare - and had quite a lot to say.

The Prince made a string of allegations about his life in the Royal Family and took aim at some of his family members, reports the Daily Record. The youngest son of King Charles III discussed many aspects of his life with ITV's Tom Bradby, after his book was mistakenly leaked in Spain last week.

Then over in the States, the Prince spoke with Anderson Cooper for CBS's flagship 60 Minutes programme. This interview aired just mere hours after ITV's, and included a lot of shocking bombshells.

READ MORE - Prince Harry's criticises Camilla as he calls Queen Consort 'dangerous villain'

In the chats, Harry admits Prince William and Princess Kate never got on with his wife, Meghan Markle. He accused the couple of "stereotyping" like he did in the initial days, but also denied accusing the family of racism during his Oprah Winfrey interview.

The 38-year-old added he faced a "horrible reaction" from his family when the Queen passed away.

The 90-minute ITV interview and 60 minute chat with CBS are the first of four interviews that Harry has recorded ahead of his book's official launch.

Read on below to find out more about the stand-out moments from each interview, including things you may have missed.

Harry rejects calling royals racist in Oprah interview

One of the most talked-about moments in Harry's interviews is when he contested the claims that he and Meghan accused the Royal Family of racist behaviour. He previously told Oprah that a senior royal questioned the colour of his unborn son’s skin.

Harry and wife Meghan rocked the British monarchy boat when they spoke of their anger at “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born”.

The rest of the Royal Family were left to deny any serious allegations of racism following the couple's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. Speaking on the matter for the first time since it aired, Harry said the royal family were not racist but were guilty of "unconscious bias".

During the interview Bradby said to Harry: "In the Oprah interview you accused members of your family of racism."

Harry replied shortly, saying: "No I didn't, the British press said that". In a further dig at his family, Harry said he didn't "describe that as essentially racist", retorting: "I wouldn’t, not having lived within that family."

Harry backs up royal aide who resigned over race row

Harry also took the time to defend a royal aide to the late Queen who became embroiled in the apparent racism row, describing her as "great".

Lady Susan Hussey, 83, stood down as an honorary member of the royal household, and also apologised after charity boss Ngozi Fulani said she was constantly asked where she "really came from" at a Buckingham Palace reception.

Harry defended her and 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 they wrote was horrendous. Was absolutely horrendous, the response.”

Harry accuses Kate and William of 'stereotyping' Meghan

Harry also had a surprising confession about his brother and sister-in-law - they were massive Suits fans.

He noted however that the couple didn't have a good rapport with his actress wife Meghan "from the get-go".

When asked why his wife and the Prince and Princess of Wales didn't get off to the best of starts, Harry admitted there were "lots of different reasons".

He continued: "I don’t think they were ever expecting me to get into a relationship with someone like Meghan, who had, you know, a very successful career. There was a lot of stereotyping that was happening, that I was guilty of as well, at the beginning."

When questioned on what he meant by that, Harry continues: "American actress, and that was playing out in the British press in the media at the time as well.

"I had that in the back of my mind, and some of the things that my brother and sister-in-law – some of the way that they were acting or behaving definitely felt to me as though unfortunately that stereotyping was causing a bit of a barrier to them really sort of, you know, introducing or welcoming her in."

And when requested to go into further detail, Harry said: "Well, American actress, divorced, biracial - there's all different parts to that and what that can mean but if you are, like a lot of my family do, if you are reading the press, the British tabloids, [yeah] at the same time as living the life, then there is a tendency where you could actually end up living in the tabloid bubble rather than the actual reality."

William used 'secret Diana code' at Prince Philip's funeral

In a sentimental section of the interview, Harry remembers squabbling with his brother at their grandfather's funeral.

He noted that William forced him to look into his eyes so he could tell him that he loved him and wanted him to be happy. Harry then says he told his brother that he loved him too but that his "stubbornness is extraordinary" and stepped away from the conversation.

He goes on to claim that William pulled him back and said: "Harold you must listen to me, I just want you to be happy, Harold, I swear, I swear on mummy’s life."

Harry said this stopped them both as William had "used the secret code, the universal password, ever since we were boys those three words were to be used only in times of extreme crisis, ‘on mummy’s life’."

He went on to say that they had reserved that vow to Diana for times when they truly believed that one of them needed to be heard.

Harry added: "It stopped me cold, as it was meant to. Not because he'd used it, but because it didn’t work. I simply didn’t believe him."

Harry was victim to 'horrible reaction' from royals when Queen died

After his grandmother passed away, Harry claimed that he received a not-so-loving reaction from the rest of his family while preparing for her funeral.

Harry told ITV's Tom Bradby: "The last moment that we were together was during, you know, our – or the Queen’s funeral.

"And that, in my mind – and I think globally people felt the same, was a really good opportunity to bring the family together.

"Um, but the day that she died was – was – was just a really, really horrible reaction from my family members and then by all accounts, well certainly from what I saw and what other people probably experienced was they were on the back foot and then the briefings and the leaking and the planting.

"I was like ‘We're here to celebrate the life of granny and to mourn her loss, can we come together as a family?’ but I don’t know – I don’t know how we collectively – how we change that."

Harry slams Jeremy Clarkson's 'horrific and cruel' words

Clarkson's comments sent shockwaves through the British public. (Getty)

Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson sparked a wave of horror in December when he wrote that he "dreams of the day when [Meghan] is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, 'Shame!' and throw lumps of excrement at her."

He also made the bold claim that "everyone my age agrees" with his thoughts on Harry's wife, Meghan.

Following the huge backlash to his column in the Sun, Jeremy said he was making a "clumsy reference" to a scene from Game Of Thrones.

And during his interview with ITV, Harry said that he wants the British press to take responsibility for what they publish, and gave his reaction to the jarring column and its effect.

He said: "Just recently, which I know you know about, the Jeremy Clarkson article, so 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."

He added, quoting Queen Consort Camilla: "To use my stepmother’s words recently as well, there is a global pandemic of violent – violence against women."

Harry has 'no intention' of hurting royals with book

Harry also maintained his stance that he doesn't mean to "harm or hurt" his family with his new memoir.

He said: “Nothing of what I’ve done in this book or otherwise has ever been to any intention to harm them or hurt them.

“The truth is something that I need to rely on and 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 in the bed with the devil, right?”

Harry remembers seeing Princess Diana in dreams

Harry also spoke about how he worked through the tragic death of his mother Diana when he was just 12. He stated that he sees the late Princess in his dreams still.

Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris in August 1997. Devastatingly, he reveals he "lost a lot of memories" of his late mother - something he thinks was a "defence mechanism" and a process of his grief.

Presenter Tom then says: "But just on that, one of the things that really surprised me in the book is the way you talk about genuinely appearing to have half-convinced yourself that your mother was in fact still alive and in hiding.

"I mean, like, you talk about seeing her in your dreams and saying, “Mummy, Mummy, is that you?"

Harry still sees his late mother in his dreams. (CBS News)

Harry nods in reply, as Tom continues to discuss the topic with him. He adds: "I mean, it, it, it's a haunting description of really, post-traumatic stress disorder really, isn't it?"

Tom asks Harry: "I mean, that's what, that's what the whole early part of this book is?"

Harry went on to say that he refers to the condition as "post-traumatic stress injury" as he does not see himself as a person with a serious disorder.

Tom then asks Harry how he "bottled it up for years", and how Harry couldn't even discuss the death of his mother with his brother William.

Harry discloses that he cried once at Diana's burial - something he goes into detail about in his memoir - but that it felt bizarre at the time.

Harry says William 'found it hard' he had a beard

In another more light-hearted aspect of the interview, Tom said that he was left baffled at the fact that Harry and William had an argument over beards. They also squabbled over whether Harry should be clean-shaven on his wedding day.

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.

"Um, the difference for me, if there was a difference, but the difference for me was, as I explained to my grandmother, that this beard I'm still – that I'm still wearing, felt to me at the time like the new Harry. Right? As almost like a shield to my anxiety.

"That was – that was the time of my life when – when I – you know, when I – when I grew my beard.

"Um, and 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, um, 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’."

Harry saw horror pictures of Diana sunk on the back seat

Prince Harry also revealed during Anderson Cooper's 60 Minutes interview that he saw graphic photographs of his mum at the time of her death.

He said: "All I saw was the back of my mum's head-- slumped on the back seat. There were other more gruesome photographs.

"But I will be eternally grateful to him for denying me the ability to inflict pain on myself by seeing that. Because that's the kinda stuff that sticks in your mind forever."

Harry taught himself how to cry by watching videos of Diana

Harry also claimed that he would watch videos of his mum Diana to teach himself how to cry - but felt unable to.

He told Anderson Cooper: "There was this weight on my chest that I felt for so many years that I was never able to cry.

Harry would try and find ways to cry after the death of Princess Diana. (AFP via Getty Images)

"So I was constantly trying to find a way to cry, but-- in even sitting on my sofa and going over as many memories as I could muster up about my mum. And sometimes I watched videos online."

Anderson Cooper asked: "Of your mom?"

Prince Harry replied: "Of my mum."

Cooper: "Hoping to cry?"

Prince Harry: "Yup."

Anderson Cooper: "And you couldn't."

Prince Harry: "I couldn't."

Harry touches on the moment he saw the Queen after she died

Prince Harry also recalled the moment that he saw his late grandmother after she passed away in 2022. Harry said he felt happy that she had "finished life and Phillip was waiting for her".

He said: "I walked into the hall, and my aunt was there to greet me. And she asked me if I wanted to see her. I thought about it for about five seconds, thinking, 'Is this a good idea?'

"And I was, like, 'You know what? You can - you can do this. You - you need to say goodbye.' So I went upstairs, took my jacket off and walked in and just spent some time with her alone.

"She was in her bedroom. I was actually - I was really happy for her. Because she'd finished life.

"She'd completed life, and her husband was-- was waiting for her. And the two of them are buried together."

READ NEXT

Prince William 'used secret Diana code phrase' after Philip's funeral in row with Harry

Seven questions Prince Harry has yet to answer as bombshell book hits shelves

Prince William 'sulked the night before Harry's wedding' after decision by prince

Kate Middleton's fingers went white in tense chat with Meghan claims Prince Harry

Prince Harry received 'really horrible reaction' from family after Queen's death

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.