Harry’s latest interview - I want my father back

[Rinoachicken]

news.sky.com/story/prince-harry-says-he-wants-his-father-and-brother-back-as-trailer-for-tv-interview-is-released-12778357

Think that ship might have sailed…and sunk!

I think it must be a hard decision for them re the coronation.

Must be tempting to go-I mean it's a historic event-but they hate the institution-don't they?

But then it's his dad so it's "just" going to support him isn't it??

They will of course monetise this huge opportunity to grow the profile of their brand.

Brilliant scheduling now the podcasts, NF series and (first) book / memoir is out of the way.

Hypocrisy has never been a consideration before - is probably their core brand value.

I think you make an interesting point . Cooper is a very smart interviewer whereas Harry is not the sharpest so I think he might draw out more .
Tom Bradby used to be friends with both William and Harry . If I remember correctly he conducted W and C’s engagement interview ?. Doubt he will ever have another exclusive with William now ! Anyway , I doubt he will ask anything too probing .

And remember The Queen invited H and M to Balmoral just before she died. She also invited them in 2019 but they said it was too far to travel with Archie then they went to S France ……
I wonder if he is kicking himself about not going ?

I think that this is behind the “I want my father and brother back” thing. When the Netflix doc and the book were originally created, the Queen was still alive. They absolutely did not anticipate that Charles would be King and they would have to factor in a coronation at this stage, so they are now in a mess because they had probably anticipated that things would have died down well before Charles came
to the throne. Now the doc and the book are out, but they also need to be at the Coronation to continue their links to the RF. They are desperately trying to save face by insisting that it is up to the RF to apologise to them, hoping this will clear the way for them to come to the coronation and not look quite so hypocritical.

As they and their children were invited to Balmoral by HMTQ over the summer but chose not to - or to even visit her when they were this side of the pond on their European tour in the days before her death.

I think the interview trailers have been tightly edited - we haven’t got the rest of the sentence after the I want my father back the “but” the “unless” the conditions of any reconciliation as declared unilaterally by PH publicly.

He doesn’t appreciate that reconciliation is a process - a slow delicate one where trust is incrementally rebuilt by concessions and acknowledgements on each side - an apology might never be an outcome - more a desire to commit to a fresh / better start, bygones be bygones etc and a recognition that the new relationship will have very different and new expectations and boundaries that need to be negotiated and respected by all parties.

@smilesy that shows just how thick the pair of them are though. The Queen was 96 - she was only ever going to have a year or two left in her realistically. I can't understand how they didn't forsee it coming.

By my reckoning off the top of my head, since they left in Jan 2020 and blew everything up, they've had so many olive branches:

• the invitations by the Queen to summer in Balmoral (twice)
• Invitations to Christmas (three times)
• Avoiding the use of uniforms at Prince Philips funeral to spare Harry
• The invitation to join the vigil for the Queen, and the allowing of the uniform
• The walkabout with William and Catherine
• An open invitation to dinner with Charles
• A heartfelt mention of them during Charles' first speech as King

How many more olive branches are needed? Yet apparently there's been no attempt at reconciliation from the family?

I'd be more intuned to watch Anderson Cooper's interview rather than Tom Bradbys. I think with Cooper's family background, he could have good insights into the family dynamic of growing up in such an institution. Saying that, Tom Bradby isn't stupid. He knows his audience is going to want him to ask the tough questions - I suspect he will be heavily learning from Emily Maitlis' interview.

I think that's unlikely. He very publicly said that he was restating his mother's vow to serve for life, and I think he meant it in just the same way as she did.

They absolutely did not anticipate that Charles would be King and they would have to factor in a coronation at this stage, so they are now in a mess because they had probably anticipated that things would have died down well before Charles came to the throne.

I think that's probably it-but I mean HMQ was 96-realistically how much time did they think they had?

Also of course the public might have become disinterested, but the hurt might still be there for KC & the P&POW.

So it would be the institution rather than the family inviting them!

If they do come-I wonder if the kids will?

I mean it's a historic occasion for them also-Grandpa being crowned King!

Maybe Meghan will decide to stay at home with the kids?

I think if he is waiting for an unreserved apology, he’ll be waiting a very, very long time.

One thing about the NF show I also found very interesting was when he was talking about coming back for Prince Philips funeral.
He said it was awkward, and all his family wanted to do was go over the same ‘misunderstanding’ and he is realising he probably won’t get an apology.

The only thing I can imagine that would have been was the racism claims?

So it seems to me that they said something like ‘how dare you go on TV and call your whole family racist’ and he was saying it was a ‘misunderstanding’ yet they wouldn’t drop it/brush it under the carpet and apologise to him

If that’s the case, it’s not great, because he’s showing no accountability, if it was a ‘misunderstanding’

It could of course not be that, but as ever, the things he says are so vague and so lacking in actual facts/substance.

I’ve met people like that though. When you wrong then, they demand grovelling apologies, it’s all your fault.
But when they wrong you it was just a misunderstanding and why can’t you get over it/why are you dragging it on/it’s still all your fault.

He really is very dim if he didn't think that the Palace would find a way to let that piece of information out as soon as he claimed that they were doing nothing to build bridges with him. But then nothing he has done in recent months suggests he is actually capable of thinking ahead.

He’ll probably just frame it as ‘see, they are still leaking about me, how could I have gone there when I’m subjected to that’

They can’t respond to anything in any way now, if they do it will just be more not proof of ‘briefing against him/keeping him the villain’ in his eyes.

Unless they come out and do an OW style interview, which obviously won’t happen.

He’s a perpetual victim now, I think grey rock is the only way to go now.

I think that's probably it-but I mean HMQ was 96-realistically how much time did they think they had?

I agree, but they have shown that they are inclined to behave impulsively and not think things through. They probably assumed (as many people seem to) that the Queen would live to at least 100 and didn’t really reflect on the reality of the situation

They don’t consider the impact that their words and actions have on others - even those they profess to love and respect.

The timing of the OW interview was appalling with PP frail and ill in hospital at 99 years old in the last days and weeks of his life - they didn’t care about him or any sensitivity to his adored grandmother HMTQ at this difficult time.

The interesting thing about the interview is that Harry is on his own. Given recent criticisms I am not sure they would still have the sway to demand pre-approved questions or control over the final edit. Meghan, the sharper and more street wise of the two, won't be able to intervene and steer things back on course.

I think the questions from both will be seemingly non-confrontational/friendly - whether they will try and draw him out or be content to provide puff pieces who knows. Emily Maitlis' questions were not hard hitting - she just knew how to draw Prince Andrew out.

I think Cooper is more likely to try and draw Harry out. At this point, I would think he is the bigger star here and is just as connected as Harry (if not more in the US). I don't think he has anything to gain by being subservient or obsequious. I think he will either aim for greater revelations about the Royal family or steer Harry into a bit of a trap (but all in a seemingly friendly way)

Bradby I think will be fairly sycophantic and just give Harry the platform to paint himself further as the victim.

@Glindara that to me is where the public affection started to turn on them.

I think hand on heart, most people could probably empathise with their initial decision to leave. I think for all of us, if we got married, moved across the world to a new culture and were then told that you could never express a public opinion ever again for the rest of your life, we would all struggle to cope. I don't blame Meghan for that - and to be honest, I empathised with her "no one asked me if i'm OK" comment, because I suspect thats the context she was talking about.

However, I started to lose sympathy for them when they petulantly announced the departure to the press before agreeing the details with HMQ. If you look at it as a business transaction, if you had one company splitting into two, the details of the split would ALWAYS be finalised before any public announcement.

The extremely petulant "service is universal, service is for all" response to the Queen was rude and unnecessary,

Then the interview during the weeks where PP was dying was so inappropriate I can't understand how they thought that would work in their favour.

There was also the outrage from them when the Queen said they could take a year out and review it a year down the line - surely that was a great compromise?

I do think they were hard done by at times. I do think that Meghan had a tough time and the response was undoubtedly "deal with it, our girlfriends had to..." but I also don't think it was a malicious "we hate Meghan" thing. I think it was almost seen as a 'rite of passage' - but they weren't willing to wait for any respect from the press, they immediately retaliated and started trying to make a war (such as refusing to speak to any experienced journalists, saying they wanted to only talk to up and coming journalists - i.e. those who were inexperienced and wouldn't ask challenging questions. Which leads me to another hypocrisy perspective - how does Oprah Winfrey/Tom Bradby/Anderson Cooper fit into their up and coming journalist narrative?)

If they had just said "we're really struggling, can we step back and just take a moment to breathe" they could have had the time they needed to adjust. They could have lived lives similar to Beatrice/Eugenue/Zara/Philip/Louise/James whereby they got to return for family events and enjoy the priviliege whilst also working to be financially independent. Yet for some reason it was their actions that have led to all of this.

Apparently all the dukes gather in one part of the abbey and the spouses watch somewhere else.

So if Harry does attend the coronation I wonder if he will kneel before King Charles and swear this oath, “I The Duke of Sussex will become your liege man, of life and limb, and of earthly worship; and faith and true I will bear unto you, to live and die, against all manner of folks. So help me God” then kiss his father on both cheeks and then kiss the crown.
This, as a Duke, is what he will have to do, I’m not sure if he can or if he will.

I largely agree with the you but I think the difference with those other royals would be that the Sussexes would have merched their royal status in a way that Beatrice and Zara, for instance, don’t. Meghan had all kinds of sidelines with influencers and designers and you can’t have a situation where she would have appeared at a royal event and then provided links to all the clothes and accessories she wore, with commission going to hee and hee friends.

I don’t know why they don’t start some eco-retreat with an emphasis on conservation and wellbeing. He could do the outdoor stuff: animals and habitat, and she could do the spa/yoga indoor stuff. They would be good at it and it would show them in a more practical, self-help mode.

Some interesting posts here. Harry really has backed himself into a corner and the RF have played a well thought out long game. The ball is well and truly in Harry's court now in respect of the coronation, he will not come out well whichever decision he makes.

I find the English hatred for Harry and Meghan extraordinary. It's as though people have read the Mail and the Express and the Sun and decided that the vitriol is true, every last word of it. Meanwhile, Andrew goes on his merry way with hardly any coverage at all. I'm no great royalist, but if I was, I'd definitely be on team Harry.

I know this is unlikely, but purely theoretically: if H&M were to renounce their Duke/Duchess titles ahead of the coronation, or have them removed, would he still need to swear allegiance to KC as a Prince?

Who hates them though?

I find the whole thing very interesting, and while I have sympathy for them (or did initially), think they have gone about things in totally the wrong way.

This whole, if you say ever say anything slightly negative mean your all haterz is really boring now

Yes I agree H&M have backed themselves into a corner.
And as always the RF have played the well thought put long game. They are experts at it. Even Camilla getting Queen title was a long game.

I wonder if this is the point that H & M will start to turn on each other and see the negative influences they have.

Oh he can and he will.

He is exploitative enough to ensure he associates with the head of the institution - previously HMTQ - the classic, ugly, manipulative tactic of “kiss up, kick down” the hierarchy ….. but now the pack has been a shuffled since her death he has to reset and now “kiss up” to KC …. and “kick down” on W&K.

He knows where the “power” lies and how that is relevant to his fortunes. MM uses the same dynamic “kissed up” to HMTQ and to some extent PC at the time - as well as her “A” lister “friends” with powerful media reach and “kicked down” to her staff where her behaviour was described as callous, “subtly” to Kate (OW and NF barbs and snipes), her own DF, her best friend Jess M, her niece Ashley etc with her scorched earth approach.