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Harry says royal family members are ‘complicit’ in conflict with the press

Harry accused the ‘British press, specifically the tabloids’ of being ‘an antagonist’.

PA Reporters
Sunday 08 January 2023 19:46 EST
The Duke of Sussex has said that ‘certain members’ of the royal family are ‘complicit’ in conflict created by the media (Jonathan Brady/PA)
The Duke of Sussex has said that ‘certain members’ of the royal family are ‘complicit’ in conflict created by the media (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Wire)

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The Duke of Sussex has said that “certain members” of the royal family are “complicit” in conflict created by the media.

Harry spoke to ITV’s Tom Bradby for the first of four primetime interviews about his controversial memoir Spare which aired ahead of the book’s launch on Tuesday.

Harry accused the “British press, specifically the tabloids” of being “an antagonist” aiming to create conflict, in which he said some of his family members are “complicit”.

Harry told Bradby: “A symptom of one of the problems where we’re not just talking about family relationships, we’re talking about an antagonist, which is the British press, specifically the tabloids who want to create as much conflict as possible.

“The saddest part of that is certain members of my family and the people that work for them are complicit in that conflict.”

Bradby asked Harry if journalists covering the royals were not just like those “covering politics” where “sometimes people gossip too much, sometimes it’s a leak, sometimes it’s not”, to which Harry expanded on his issue with the relationship.

“I think again what people are starting to understand now is that a royal source is not an unknown person, it is the palace specifically briefing the press, but covering their tracks by being unnamed,” he said.

Some of the most heinous, horrible things have been said about me and my wife, completely cordoned by the palace because it's coming from the palace

The Duke of Sussex

“I think that’s pretty shocking to people. Especially when you realise how many palace sources, palace insiders, senior palace officials, how many quotes are being attributed to those people.

“Some of the most heinous, horrible things have been said about me and my wife, completely cordoned by the palace because it’s coming from the palace.

“And those journalists have literally been spoon-fed that narrative without ever coming to us, without ever seeing or questioning the other side.”

– Harry: The Interview is available to view on ITVX.

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