Prince Harry says explosive book is a bid to 'own my story' - The Associated Press - en Español

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry has defended his determination to people a memoir that lays bare rifts wrong Britain’s royal family, saying it’s an effort to “own my story” aft 38 years of “spin and distortion” by others.

Harry spoke to Britain’s ITV web to beforehand his book, “Spare,” which has generated incendiary headlines with its details of backstage affectional turmoil and bitter household resentments.

In the interview, broadcast Sunday, Harry accused members of the royal household of getting “into furniture with the devil” to summation favorable tabloid coverage, claimed his stepmother Camilla, the queen consort, had leaked backstage conversations to the media and said his household was “complicit” successful his woman Meghan’s “pain and suffering.”

He besides repeated the assertion that determination was “concern” successful the royal household astir his unborn child’s tegument colour aft helium joined biracial American histrion Meghan Markle, and said the British monarchy should code its attitudes to race.

Harry and Meghan archetypal mentioned the incidental during an interrogation with Oprah Winfrey successful 2021. They person not identified the household subordinate who expressed concern.

Harry said the occurrence was an illustration of unconscious bias alternatively than racism, adding that the royal household needed to “learn and grow” successful bid to beryllium “part of the solution alternatively than portion of the problem.”

“Otherwise unconscious bias past moves into the class of racism,” Harry said. He said that “especially erstwhile you are the monarchy – you person a responsibility, and rather rightly radical clasp you to a higher modular than others.”

He said a caller incident successful which a erstwhile lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II asked a Black British pistillate wherever she was “really” from was “a precise bully illustration of the situation wrong the institution.”

“Spare” explores Harry’s grief astatine the decease of his parent successful 1997, and his long-simmering resentment astatine the relation of royal “spare,” overshadowed by the “heir” — older member Prince William. He recounts arguments and a carnal altercation with William, reveals however helium mislaid his virginity (in a field) and describes utilizing cocaine and cannabis.

He besides says helium killed 25 Taliban fighters portion serving arsenic an Apache chopper aviator successful Afghanistan — a assertion criticized by some the Taliban and British subject veterans.

Harry told ITV that helium cried lone erstwhile aft his mother’s decease — astatine her burial. He said helium feels guilt astir not showing emotion erstwhile helium and William greeted crowds of mourners extracurricular Kensington Palace, Diana’s London home.

In the publication Harry blames his family’s stiff-upper-lip ethos, saying helium had “learned excessively good … the household maxim that crying is not an option.” The Associated Press purchased a Spanish-language transcript of the publication successful beforehand of its work astir the satellite connected Tuesday.

“There were 50,000 bouquets of flowers to our parent and determination we were shaking people’s hands, smiling,” Harry told ITV writer Tom Bradby. “I’ve seen the videos, right, I looked backmost implicit it all. And the bedewed hands that we were shaking, we couldn’t recognize wherefore their hands were wet, but it was each the tears that they were wiping away.

“Everyone thought and felt similar they knew our mum, and the 2 closest radical to her, the 2 astir loved radical by her, were incapable to amusement immoderate emotion successful that moment.”

“Spare” is the latest successful a drawstring of nationalist pronouncements by Harry and Meghan since they quit royal life and moved to California successful 2020, citing what they saw arsenic the media’s racist attraction of Meghan and a deficiency of enactment from the palace. It follows the Winfrey interrogation and a six-part Netflix documentary released past month.

In the ghostwritten memoir, Harry, 38, describes the couple’s acrimonious divided from the royal household successful aboriginal 2020, aft their petition for a part-time royal relation was rejected.

Harry contrasts the withdrawal of the couple’s taxpayer-funded information with the lawsuit of his uncle, Prince Andrew, who was removed arsenic a moving royal implicit his relationship with the U.S. enactment offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Last year, Andrew settled a lawsuit from a pistillate who accused him of sexually abusing her portion she traveled with financier Epstein erstwhile she was 17. Andrew paid an undisclosed sum arsenic portion of the settlement, but didn’t admit wrongdoing.

Harry alleges that nary 1 considered removing Andrew’s information contempt the “shameful scandal.”

The ITV interrogation is 1 of respective fixed by Harry that is acceptable to heap much unit connected the royal family. He is besides appearing connected “60 Minutes,” “Good Morning America” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Royal officials haven’t commented connected immoderate of the allegations, though allies person pushed backmost connected the claims, mostly anonymously.

Veteran British writer Jonathan Dimbleby, a biographer and person of King Charles III, said Saturday that Harry’s revelations were the benignant “that you’d expect … from a benignant of B-list celebrity,” and that the king would beryllium pained and frustrated by them.

Harry told ITV that helium wants reconciliation with the royal family, but “the shot is successful their court.”

“They’ve shown perfectly nary willingness to reconcile,” helium said.