BACK, EVERYBODY. MY GUEST TONIGHT IS A HUSBAND, FATHER, MILITARY VETERAN, AND ACTIVIST. HE HAS THREE DOGS, TWO KIDS, AND LIVES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
HE IS ALSO THE DUKE OF SUSSEX. PLEASE WELCOME TO THE LATE SHOW, PRINCE HARRY. I've been there since I began to grow If it wasn't for bad luck I would never know Is this the spare?
That's the spare! That's the spare chair. Yeah, exactly.
Exactly. Thank you. Thank you for bringing in the crowd.
You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you for bringing in the crowd. You're welcome.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you so much for being here and you're absolutely right you might have missed it but Harry said is this the chair and the spare over there? Well done. Well played. Well played sir. Now it's lovely to have you on the show.
Thanks for coming on to talk about your new book. What should I do? CALL ME WHATEVER YOU WANT AT THIS POINT. I'M STUCK HERE UNTIL WE STOP TALKING. IN THE BOOK, I FOUND YOU HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT NAMES.
YOUR BIRTH NAME IS HENRY. YOUR FATHER AND BROTHER OFTEN CALL YOU HAROLD. SOME PEOPLE CALL YOU H. DEAR FRIENDS CALL YOU HAS. WHAT IS HAS? IS THAT SHORT FOR HAZARDOUS?
WHAT IS... What is Harry? It's not.
My wife calls me Haz, so you can't call me Haz. Haz, OK. Harry? Is Harry OK? Yeah, Harry, Haz, Baz, Baza, Spike, Bazaroonie, it's all there.
Bazaroonie? Prince Bazaroonie. No, the prince doesn't come before that. Oh, OK. It's its own title in and of itself.
It's its own thing, like a code word. Well, you've written this very intimate memoir, which I've read, and it's fascinating. It's a very good read by itself. It's available today.
A lot of sensational leaks in the days coming up to this. I know that you yourself are a very private person for being a public figure. You're revealing a lot of things in here.
It must be on a certain level kind of nerve-wracking to be out there to publicly and physically represent the book. Would you like a cocktail before we begin? Yes, please. I hear you like tequila.
Yeah, let's go for that. Tequila, let's do this. There you go.
Do you, does he ever make you guys a drink or no? There you go, no, he does. Sure, I'm not sure. Everyone wants a drink.
Everybody wants a drink. Okay. Exactly. They're already on your side, man. You don't have to get them drunk.
All right. Are you glad now to be out here so people can see this book after all these leaks, so they can see the context of these remarks? Yes, context is everything, as we know.
Writing this book has been a cathartic experience for me. Hard times and happy times, bringing up old memories that I didn't think I had. But yes, context... and unfortunately due to those leaks, the British press, which are central to so much of my story, my 38 years up until this point, and after spending two years focused on context, what I'm going to share, how I'm going to share it, and being able to piece it all together, they intentionally chose to strip away all the context and take out individual segments of my life, my story, and every experience that I've had and turn it into a salacious headline. Well, I mean, there are...
Which is somewhat typical. Right, especially if you read this book, you find out how typical that is. Yes.
Now, there's a lot of faults in the American press, and people from all different stripes can see that in the American press, but the British press is almost odd to me. It's sort of bizarre how vicious they can be. You detail a lifetime of dishonorable behavior like the kind you're describing, and not only from the press, but from palace...
SOURCES, PALACE INSIDERS, WHO WOULD NOT ONLY NOT DEFEND YOU, BUT ALSO PLANT STORIES THAT WERE DEROGATORY TOWARD YOU AND PLACED YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES UNDER ATTACK. AND JUDGING THE LAST FEW DAYS, THAT HASN'T CHANGED. NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
OKAY. DO YOU THINK THAT RIGHT NOW THERE IS AN ACTIVE... A campaign by the rest of your family, by the royal house as it were, to undermine this book and you as you support it?
Of course, and mainly by the British press because... But aided and abetted by the palace. Yeah, again, of course, but this is the other side of the story. Right, after 38 years, they've told their side of the story, this is the other side of the story and there's a lot in here that, you know, perhaps makes people feel uncomfortable and scared. I would say that, I think there's some veterans in the house tonight.
I think one of the most, look I'm not gonna lie the last few days have been hurtful and challenging and not being able to do anything about those leaks that you referred to but perhaps the or no, not perhaps, without doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people that I killed in Afghanistan. I've read that section of the book, and without reading the entire thing right here, it is, to me... it's a very thoughtful description of what that knowledge is like to have and what the experience is to Know that you have done this in order to protect what you believe is good in the world from those who would wish to destroy It there's there's nothing boastful about it And not only that but also I would say that if I heard anybody else If I heard anyone boasting about That kind kind of thing.
I would be angry but but it's a lie. And hopefully, now that the book is out, people will be able to see the context. And it is. It's really troubling and very disturbing that they can get away with it. Because they had the context.
It wasn't like, here's just one line. They had the whole section. They ripped it away and just said, here it is, he's boasting on this. Whereas you say that you've read it and everybody else will hopefully be able to have a chance to read it. And that's dangerous.
And my words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous. It's dangerous because... It makes you an increased target, those around you that you love. And that is a choice they've made. Another odd thing about it is that this is nothing new.
Here's an article from, I believe this is from Reuters, from ten years ago, describing that you had killed Afghan insurgents, the Taliban, in sorties. So this isn't new information. This has been known for a long time. Almost ten years to the day.
My face was splattered all over the front pages because someone asked me a question while I was still in Afghanistan. if I had killed anybody from an attack helicopter. And I said yes. And I think the most important thing here is not only the context, but the reason as to why I decided to share this in my book. Because, again, to the vets here and to the civilians here, which may feel as though this is slightly a weird conversation to have, especially on this show of all shows, but I made a choice to share it because having spent...
nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world. I think the most important thing is to be honest and be able to give space to others to be able to share their experiences without any shame. And my whole goal and my attempt with sharing that detail is to reduce the number of suicides.
You talk. You talk in the book, here we go, there you go. You talk in the book about those years in the military as having saved you. As you said, you still continue to work with veterans, wounded veterans, the Invictus Games.
And do you think the UK press is using this specifically to hurt you? in an area that is most meaningful to you? Without question.
It's not just an area that they know is the most meaningful, but it is what has defined my life. I spent 10 years in the army. I only joined originally for three, but I couldn't resist. staying and they kept dangling the carrot of different jobs for me for many years.
But I found a refuge there. And as I talk about in the book, I found my purpose, a purpose greater than myself and to be amongst comrades wearing the same uniform, being treated, no longer being treated differently for the first time in my life and being able to hide away from the media focus. For me, that was an amazing place to be in an amazing community. And I still am part of that community.
So they will do everything they can. to try and disrupt that. As much as you point out the mendacity and the corruption of the British press...
How do you feel about the audience who wants those photos, who wants those stories? I'm struck by the people who are along the streets crying as your mother's carriage goes by, the caisson holding her coffin as you're a boy, and them crying, calling out and offering their sympathy. Well, there wouldn't be those photos if the public... didn't go buy those magazines.
Do you have a conflicted feeling about how the audience for that kind of salacious work that gets sold aid and abets it? Yeah, yeah. I think so many of us feed into it. A lot of us feed into it without...
without realising it. We click on photographs without really considering how that photograph was taken and the story behind that photograph, especially with someone's kids. So, yeah, I mean, it's...
The way that I look at it now, and again, I talk about it in the book, I was obsessed. I was specifically looking for stories about my wife so that I could educate myself on the opinions that were happening and things that were being said so that I could try to fix it, right? But I think...
I think, you know, now for me, I've weaned myself off that because I was slightly addicted to it. And now I have a digital diet. And as much as I worry about what I put in my mouth, I worry about what I put through my eyes as well.
And my life is so much better for it. I'm curious. I'm curious, why do you think, and I know this might seem a simple question or there might be a simple answer here, why do you think the world is so fascinated with your family and at this moment in you?
Aside from this book, because there was already a press fascination, a public fascination, even when you and... YOUR WIFE WERE BEING PRIVATE ALL DURING COVID OUT IN CALIFORNIA. WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE AN APPETITE?
WELL, FIRST OF ALL, ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MY FAMILY? YOUR FAMILY. MY FAMILY. OKAY. WELL, HOW ABOUT YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR GREATER FAMILY?
WELL, THE GREATER FAMILY. me, I don't know, I grew up within it. I think there's always been a fascination.
I think my mum took it to, the fascination of her took it to a new level. You know, Diana's boys, let's see how this turns out. And I think there was a real sense of, in some parts ownership, some parts parenthood by the British public, feeling as though they had to parent myself and my brother through our teenage years. And then he got married, it was like, there's one, what's going to happen? with the other one i wonder and then i'm falling out of clubs i'm taking drugs i'm drinking heavily all of that again it's all there um and that was that was a part of this um but with regard to my family you you hit on a really important point which is we were forced to leave we left in 2020 we moved out we fled my home country we moved to california and for 12 months during lockdown where we said literally nothing.
It was relentless. And that was a real eye-opener for me. I never thought that we'd be away from it completely, but I did think that we would get some form of peace.
But that's when I realized that actually our mere existence outside of that institutional control was more of a threat. And, you know, there's a similar thing that happened to my mum as well. And look, they always knew that my wife was going to leave because of the way that they were abusing her.
BUT I THINK THE MOST EMBARRASSING THING IS THAT I DECIDED TO LEAVE WITH HER. DO THEY THINK THE INTENT WAS TO MAKE HER LEAVE OR TO BREAK HER SPIRIT SO SHE WOULD BE EASIER TO CONTROL? UH... HMM. BECAUSE EITHER ONE WOULD DO, RIGHT?
FEELS A LITTLE BIT LIKE GROUP THERAPY. YOU DIDN'T KNOW, DID YOU? YOU WERE GOING TO SAY, I GOT A DINNER RESERVATION. WHAT IS THIS?
WELL, HARRY, LET'S FOLLOW THAT FEELING. BOTH. BOTH.
I'M GOING TO GO TO THE I think both. I've never seen the level of abuse and harassment that I witnessed over my wife. Other members of the family, they've experienced different forms of that.
But to see it happen the way that it happened... I was naive going into it. I didn't realise that the British press would be so bigoted. And even if I had, I wouldn't have accepted or understood that they could get away with it.
But here we are, and I've now created, or we have created a fantastic life here in California, which is, by the way, it's beautiful, and America is a great place to live. CHEERING The title Spare, how old were you when that name or that description made sense to you in terms of the hierarchy of the family? When did it make sense?
I think I was when you realize that Spare meant like you're, you know, even comedically perceived as like, well, he's a safety cushion. I heard someone go oh you should read the book whoever that was thank you I'll give you a hug later um but stop doing it stop doing it um but yeah I think I don't know whether purely American audience, I assume, the air spare is probably something very new, but it is. It is literally that.
You have the air, and then you have the spare. You have the distraction. And if you're not careful, you can really play into that.
Like some members of my family... AND I FELL FOR THAT TRAP WHEN I WAS IN MY TEENAGE YEARS LOOKING FOR MY PURPOSE AND TRYING TO WORK OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON. YOUR FAMILY MOTTO YOU SAY IN HERE IS NEVER COMPLAIN, NEVER EXPLAIN. YEAH. BUT THERE'S ALSO ANOTHER FAMILY MOTTO WHICH IS DEU A MON DROIT, YOU KNOW, GOD AND MY RIGHT.
AND THOSE ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. ONE IS TO SAY, OH, DON'T CARE, DON'T EXPLAIN. BUT THE OTHER IS VERY FORCEFUL AND SAY ALMOST LIKE PART OF MY EXPRESSION, DAMMIT, YOU CANNOT COME. because I have the right to this position and the right to my actions.
Do you see those two in conflict? Does your family really not explain and not complain? No, it literally is that.
It's a motto. That's all it is. For well over a decade, probably two decades, the motto itself is a shield to be able to feed narratives, trading of information, personal information, ON FAMILY MEMBERS TO TAKE ONE DOWN TO BUILD ONE UP AND THROUGH UNNAMED SOURCES WHERE THERE ARE NO FINGERPRINTS LEFT BEHIND. SO, AGAIN, ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK IS EVERY WORD IN THAT BOOK IS MINE.
AND I REALIZE THAT A SPECIAL. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? BECAUSE THE AMOUNT OF UNNAMED SOURCES THAT HAVE FED INFORMATION TO THE BRITISH TABLOIDS ABOUT ME AND MY WIFE AND MY FAMILY. YOU HAVE A SOURCE AND IT'S YOU.
TRUE AND NOT TRUE. I AM THE SOURCE OF THAT BOOK. THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT.
that instead of hiding behind, you know, unnamed sources, this here, these are my words from my lips, from my mouth. And I understand, especially for British people, that it can be incredibly jarring to have my name to a lot of these stories. It's also quite bizarre because a lot of these stories in this book have actually been told already. The thing that seems redolent when you read the book and you hear interviews, you... I get the sense that you're being honest when you speak.
And being factually honest, as you say, you're standing behind all of these stories, but also emotionally honest. And one of the things that was sort of emotionally very affecting to me, even as someone who, again, who doesn't follow the royal family that much, I always assumed after the death of your mother, the two of you, you and your brother, were lockstep. You were these solaces for each other who went through this experience together and went through really the rest of your lives shoulder to shoulder as the only two who could possibly understand what you'd gone through.
But that is not the case here. Are you surprised that people are surprised? Because people are surprised. Are you surprised? Yes.
Because that has been the narrative. I mean, look, there's two parts to this. One is, I think, anyone who suffers from trauma, shock, grief, loss, which we all have and all will, that you have got to put on a brave face.
And I think, to a large extent, you know, me out there smiling, my brother out there smiling, us doing working engagements together, it looks a certain way, especially then when you're... have the British press, the Royal Rotor, of which all of the Royal Family's information goes through that filter before it then goes global. That's like the press pool? Yeah, the press pool.
Yeah, exclusive access. Do you have to say it that way? Legally, do you have to say it that way?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I signed a disclaimer before. Exactly.
But for... Yeah, so I can understand why people would think that, but I guess more recently, especially in the last six years, it is all the fracture of the relationship between... AND MY BROTHER HAS VERY MUCH BEEN PINNED ON MY WIFE.
FUNNY ENOUGH. THERE'S A LOT OF TALK ABOUT THE PHYSICAL FIGHT THAT THE TWO OF YOU HAD WHERE HE PUSHED YOU DOWN IN THE KITCHEN AND BROKE THE DOG BOWL WHEN YOU FELL ON IT. IT SAYS IT BROKE YOUR NECKLACE. WHAT NECKLACE WAS THIS THAT HE BROKE?
THIS ONE. WHICH IS NOW FIXED AND NOW IT'S GOT. AND WHAT'S ON THERE? WHAT DO YOU GOT THERE?
WE GOT MY KIDS'HEARTBEATS, WHICH MY WIFE GAVE ME. OH, THE CARDIOGRAM ENGRAVED THERE. YEAH. AND A FRIEND OF MINE IN BOTSWANA MADE THIS FOR ME. IF YOUR MOTHER WERE STILL ALIVE, DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT HOW SHE MIGHT HANDLE THIS MOMENT?
WE WOULDN'T HAVE GOT TO THIS MOMENT. TALK TO ME ABOUT THAT. WE WOULDN'T HAVE DONE IT.
I DON'T KNOW WHERE. THERE WAS ALREADY CRISIS IN YOUR FAMILY. THERE WAS ALREADY DIVISIONS.
SHE WAS ALREADY BEING HOUNDED. SO... I DON'T KNOW. It's impossible to say where we would be now, where those relationships would be now, but there is no way that the distance between my brother and I would be the same. Do you think of how, like, do you sort of mentally or spiritually ask for help as to, like, what?
WHAT CAN I DO TO FIX THIS? ANY ADVICE SHE MIGHT GIVE YOU IN THIS MOMENT? I'VE SAID QUITE A LOT RECENTLY IN DIFFERENT INTERVIEWS THAT I'VE BEEN DOING THAT I'VE REALLY FELT THE PRESENCE OF MY MOM, ESPECIALLY IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. I DETAIL ON THE PROBLEM. I THINK I HEARD ON THE BOOK MY BROTHER AND I TALKING AT HER GRAVE AND HOW HE FELT AS THOUGH SHE HAD BEEN WITH HIM FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME AND HELPED SET HIM UP WITH LIFE AND THAT HE FELT SHE WAS NOW MOVING OVER TO ME.
AND I HAVE FELT HER MORE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS THAN I HAVE IN THE LAST 30. THE LAST TWO YEARS IS VERY INTERESTING BECAUSE YOU'RE 38 AND SHE WAS 36 WHEN SHE DIED. WHAT WAS THAT? WHAT IS A MOMENT LIKE WHEN SOMEONE AT A YOUNG AGE LOSES A PARENT? FOR MANY PEOPLE, IT'S A SIGNIFICANT MOMENT WHEN YOU older than that parent who looms so large in your mind, when you're older than they are, when you've seen more of life than they have, such as it is, what was that moment like for you?
Or was it significant at all? Well, she died at 36, and I was 36 when this all kicked off. As in January of 2020 was when my wife and I basically said, enough, we can't cope, we can't deal with this.
We need to carve out something. something different. So that was an interesting overlap of time. You talk about her death or that moment in your life as being a wall over which you couldn't see. Was that, how do you see that wall now?
Now that you've been through self-reflection, some therapy about that, have you been able to see over it? Yeah, no, I've definitely been able to see over it. I would say that I haven't necessarily kicked it down, but I've...
manage to reach to the top and start removing bricks, as opposed to poking one through and having a look and poking another one through, the wall has reduced in size. That is partly through writing a book, partly through therapy and having her scent, her perfume, and spraying it and being able to unlock memories that I never thought I had. But there are memories pre-12-year-old Harry that I will never be able to access.
And that sucked. That's really sad. But again, I imagine it is so relatable for so many people because as far as I'm concerned, with all the work that I've done on myself, but also the stories that I've heard from so many people, not just veterans, that I'm convinced that 99.9% of people on planet Earth are walking around with some form of unresolved grief, trauma or loss. And with that comes these filters, of which it acts as a fog.
And every... EVERY OPPORTUNITY WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO CLEAN THE WINDSCREEN, TAKE THE FILTERS AWAY, AND ACTUALLY SEE LIFE AS IT IS AND BE ABLE TO LIVE A TRULY AUTHENTIC LIFE, THAT, TO ME, HAS BEEN THE FREEDOM THAT I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR, THAT I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT I WAS LOOKING FOR, FOR MOST OF MY LIFE. YOU SAY 99% OF PEOPLE HAVE SOME TRAUMA. TO BE ALIVE IS TO SUFFER IN SOME WAY.
AND SO OFTEN IN THIS BOOK, YOU SAY, I WANTED TO HUG THIS PERSON, USUALLY A MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY. I WANTED TO HUG THIS PERSON. I WANTED THIS PERSON TO HUG ME. And it doesn't happen, I don't think, ever, within your family the way that you're hoping that it will. Why, if all of us suffer, and I assume that your family is no different than ours as human beings, why don't y'all hug each other?
Why can't you just hug each other? Surely they want to be hugged as well on a certain level. Yeah, there's a lot of people around who...
By the way, I'm a big hugger now. But I did, you know, I was also the kind of individual who, whenever asked when I was younger, how are you feeling? Are you happy?
Are you sad? I'm fine. Fine was the easy get out. FINE WAS THE RESPONSE THAT YOU COULD GUARANTEE THAT THERE WASN'T GOING TO BE A FOLLOW-UP QUESTION. ALSO BECAUSE AS A CHILD OF TRAUMA, YOU DON'T REALLY WANT TO DIP INTO IT.
YOU DON'T WANT TO DIP INTO IT. AND I CERTAINLY WASN'T CONSCIOUS OF THE REASONS AS TO WHY I DIDN'T WANT TO DIP INTO IT. All I knew was there was a defense mechanism. And no one was helping you do that dipping into it? No, no, God, no.
This was back in 1997, right? Therapy wasn't really a conversation that was had. Not within my family and not really within British culture at all. I don't know how you guys were doing in 1997, but it wasn't really a regular thing. But, you know, in one of today's newspapers, it was apparently I'm trapped in the cult.
of psychotherapy. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. How is it in the cult? Is it nice? It's warm.
It's cozy. Good. Now, there you go.
So, we got... I want to ask you a couple more questions, if you don't mind, about... You engage in something that...
I think we've discussed this briefly, that I lost several members of my family when I was a little bit younger than you, and I engage in a lot of magical thinking about where they were, and perhaps they weren't dead, and you talk about this all the time. THINGS THAT WAS SO RESONANT TO ME WAS THE BELIEF THAT NO, MY MOTHER IS ALIVE. SHE'S OUT THERE SOMEPLACE.
AND SOMEDAY SHE WILL SHOW UP. THAT'S A RECURRING THEME THROUGHOUT THIS. DID YOU HAVE AN IMAGE OF YOUR MIND OF WHERE SHE WAS AND WHAT SHE WAS DOING ALL THIS TIME?
FOR THOSE YEARS. YEAH, FOR MANY YEARS. I HAD DREAMS.
I WAS CONVINCED THAT SHE WAS STILL ALIVE. I WAS 12 YEARS OLD. DID YOU SEE HER IN THE WORLD? DID YOU THINK YOU SAW HER PLACES? ONLY A HANDFUL OF TIMES.
BUT I HAD TO BELIEVE THAT SHE WAS ALIVE. I COULD NOT FACE THE REALITY THAT SHE WAS GONE. WHERE DID YOU IMAGINE SHE WAS?
HIDING. TAKING A BREAK, PLOTTING, PLANNING, AND THEN COMING TO GET ME AND WILLIAM TO GET US OUT OF THERE. BECAUSE IT WAS UNBEARABLE FOR HER.
HIDING IN SOME WAYS, I MEAN, HIDING, I'M NOT GOING TO ACCUSE YOU AND MEGAN OF HIDING, BUT REMOVING YOURSELF FROM THE SITUATION, THIS FANTASY THAT YOU HAD OF WHAT YOUR MOTHER DID IS WHAT YOU DID. YOU REMOVED YOURSELF FROM THE TOXIC SITUATION. YEAH.
I MEAN, IT'S A VERY, VERY And I'm glad, by the way, I'm glad that it... APPLAUSE Not before trying to make it work. Yes.
Believe me, we tried, and we're still trying. But I'm glad that that resonated for you, because, as we know, through, you know, our own mental health journey, there's power in sharing, right? because then you realize you're not alone, and you realize you weren't crazy thinking that. And that is how that person is still alive.
If you share your memories of that person, how you feel about that person, that is how that person really, that is not magical thinking, and that person becomes alive. No, true, but there's also that grief. that so many of us, that within society at large, we are not exactly encouraged to grieve.
And I think that's a real problem. It's seen as a weakness. It's seen as weakness.
But I, through this book, have been the most vulnerable I have ever been in my life. And I've never felt stronger. You talk about the love of community in here, not in so many words, but certainly the community of your friends in, what's the club?
Club H, is that what it is? Club H, yeah. Club H, below one of the estates in the army. And you had to leave.
This was the cellar of my dad's house. Yes. Just so we're all clear. Yeah, Club H. You're all invited. Then you had to leave the most intimate community, which is your family.
It must have been hard to leave, for someone who wants community so much, to leave the most intimate community, which is your family. Yes, and one of the hardest bits, which I realized pre- quickly was the moment that I started doing therapy, it's like we started speaking a different language. You and your family, that you had a different emotional vocabulary than they were sharing. We, it just, it just became very, very different.
They couldn't understand me. And I was doing my best to try and encourage them to healing. And everyone has their own journey, and I fully respect that.
But within that institution, there is a mindset. And there's a lot of people that are hired and brought in that ultimately manage that mindset. And I think it's really, really damaging and dangerous.
So, you know, a large reason of why I've written a book is because I want this to stop. with me. That makes, it makes no sense for me to be able to expose and uncover all of this practice, this toxic relationship between the palace and the press if I know that someone else in my family is going to be the next target. Because if it's not Meghan and I, it's going to be someone else.
When you were still in the family, were you aware of specific instances when this was happening with the complicity of the palace? Yeah, it got to the point where every unnamed source, palace source, palace insider, see SENIOR PALACE SOURCE, EVERYBODY WAS QUOTED, AND THEN AT THE BOTTOM IT WOULD SAY, THE PALACE DECLINED TO COMMENT. IT'S LIKE, THE WHOLE ARTICLE IS THEM COMMENTING. AND EVEN TODAY THEY'RE DOING THE SAME THING.
SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY AT THIS POINT, APART FROM YOU KEEP TELLING ON YOURSELVES. I GUESS WHAT I'M ASKING IS THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU WERE INSIDE THE SYSTEM, THEREFORE YOU KNOW HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS. YES, WHICH IS ALSO TERRIFYING FOR THOSE PEOPLE.
YOU WRITE A LOT ABOUT YOUR BROTHER. YOU WRITE ABOUT HIM WITH LOVE. You call him Willie, but there is a different Willie.
That also gave you some pain and trouble. You got frostbite. Frostnip. Frostnip?
Frostnip. Frostnip on a delicate part of your anatomy. And you write about this in the book. When you went to the North Pole... Now they're interested.
OK. Can you explain how it is that the royal standard got frostnip? Walk us through it.
Take all the time in the world. How long have you... Can I have a drink?
Sure, there you go. Yes. Here you go.
How long have you been waiting to ask that question? Since I read the book yesterday. We've taken quite a leap from grief and trauma to my todger.
Todger, that's a very gentle word. Is it gentle? Todger. Sounds like a nice nickname.
You know my friends, here's Willy, here's Todger. Here's John Thomas. Well hang on a sec, yeah. Can I care for a game of Tallywacker?
SO HOW DID THE... MY TODDLER MAKE IT IN. HOW DID YOUR TODDLER...
I KNOW HOW IT MADE IT INTO THE BOOK, YOU TYPED IT, BUT HOW DID IT GET FROST-NIPPED? WHY DID YOU NOT TAKE CARE OF THE ROYAL JEWELS? THE REASON... It's really hard to have this conversation because there's no one in this audience that has probably read the book yet apart from you and me.
So we talk about context, right? The context of this is that you're going to North Pole. Thank you.
Okay, and things got very cold. At what point did you realize there was a crisis at the South Pole? Once I got home.
Really? All the way home? It took it that long to thaw out?
Oh no, because look, okay. The problem was, first of all, it didn't turn into an icicle, right? Didn't snap off like a graham cracker. No, exactly. You can't say, it wasn't like that.
Never? Well... Okay, so it seems okay.
It's fine now, thank you. Um, so the context was that these amazing veterans were doing a walk to the North Pole. Yes. They had all the training, I had none, and I turned up... thinking how bad can this be it's only the North Pole it's only it's only the North Pole it's only minus 35 degrees I've got the salopettes I've got the jacket I've got the warm stuff I've got all the things that I need but what I didn't have was what I had when I actually went to the South Pole which was a cushion which which if you Which is which is a good one in my life when I was a child could ever explain to me that someday the Duke of Sussex Was gonna say the words Cushion to me And it would all make sense This is absolutely surreal well look First of all, it's great that it makes sense.
Yes, because otherwise I'd move myself into this chair. Yes So is it down? What's what we're talking about?
Well, there was a lovely lady from Heli Hansen who actually is BEGINNING OF A LIMERICK. A LOVELY LADY WHO MADE A CUSHION FOR ME HAVING BEEN TOLD BY THE GUIDE FROM THE NORTH POLE, HE'S DOING THIS AGAIN. HE'S GOING TO NEED SOME EXTRA PROTECTION BECAUSE THE PANTS I WAS WEARING, YOU GUYS WEAR PANTS ON THEIR SHOES.
UNDERWEAR. PANTS OR UNDERWEAR. RIGHT.
OH, YEAH. SO THAT'S ALL I HAD. SO MY MAN PIECE, MY JOHNSON, MY WILSON, MY TODDGER, MY WILLY, ALL THE THINGS AND ANY OTHER WORDS.
IF YOU NEED TO KNOW ANY OTHER WORDS, I THINK THE AUSTIN POWERS SEQUENCES ARE VERY GOOD. THE TOWER OF LONDON. EXACTLY.
That's you. Big Ben. Yes.
That the piece was against one layer of clothing or two very thin layers of clothing. And the cold got through. To the minus 35. And when you're walking... You're hot, and you're trying not to sweat because the sweat freezes. Yeah.
And once it's numb, you don't know the pain. It's just numb. Right.
So when do you find out? Like, when does it occur to you that something not as all right? Weeks after I got back.
Weeks after? Yeah. Why weeks?
I don't understand. I mean, do you not take inventory on a regular basis? I'll get to that later.
Next week. Next week. You are a busy man. Nothing visible.
Oh really? Nothing obvious. Okay.
It was a it was a slow deteriorating situation. That's the part we're editing out of this interview. Boy, right there.
All right. Very similar to this experience. Yeah, yes.
Unlike what? That's right, you carry on. You're doing great, you're doing great.
Oh, you're doing great. How's your penis? Doing great? Fantastic.
Little antifreeze. There's some people here who are horrified. Most of them are amused.
I'm not gonna ask for a shirt, Hans. No, this is a difficult transition. You're wearing masks, so I can't really tell whether you're laughing or not.
I'm gonna show this lovely photo right here. There's so much in this book that is actually very heartwarming. connection that you have with your family and the times when they've been there to support you. Here's a beautiful photo of yourself and Queen Elizabeth II.
And the world mourned her passing last September. You didn't just lose yourself. You lost your grandmother. And they're... many really lovely interactions between you and your grandmother.
What will you remember most about her? Her sharp wit. Her sharp wit?
Yeah, her sense of humour, her ability to respond to anybody with a completely straight face, but totally joking. Wow. Just the ultimate British dry wit.
Yeah. But she was just... She was just... She was.
She was. It was incredibly humorous. But again, as I say in the book, I am now and I was then genuinely happy for her because she finished life. She had an amazing life.
She had an amazing career. And she was buried with her husband. And bearing in mind the suffering, global suffering, that everybody's experienced over the last three years, there was less suffering for both of my grandparents.
I'm really, really grateful for that. Here's another lovely family photo. Your daughter, Lilibet, your son, Archie, of course, your wife, Megan, your daughter, Lilibet, is named in her honor. Having children helps us remember those that we've lost. Do you see your mother, your grandparents, in any of your children?
DEFINITELY MY MOM. THE GINGER GENE IS A STRONG ONE. LOOK AT THAT.
BOTH OF THEM ARE REDHEADED. THE SPENCER GENE IS VERY, VERY STRONG. I ACTUALLY REALLY GENUINELY THOUGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF MY RELATIONSHIP THAT SHE WAS GOING TO BE MY MOM.
SHOULD THIS GO THE DISTANCE? AND WE HAVE KIDS, THERE'S NO WAY THE GINGER GENE WILL STAND UP TO MY WIFE'S GENES, BUT I WAS WRONG. WHAT DO YOU GUYS DO AT HOME?
WHAT'S FUN? DO YOU GUYS BINGE? BINGE.
BINGE SHOWS? BINGE. BINGE. BINGE TV SHOWS?
YEAH, YEAH. YOU'VE WATCHED THE CROWN, RIGHT? YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE WATCHED SOME OF THE CROWN, RIGHT? PEOPLE LOVE IT.
YES, I HAVE ACTUALLY WATCHED THE CROWN. THE RECENT STUFF OR THE OLDER STUFF? THE OLDER STUFF AND THE MORE RECENT STUFF. YEAH.
I THINK IT'S A GREAT STUFF. Do you fact check it while you watch it? Yes, I do, actually. Which, by the way, by the way, another reason why it's so important that history has it right. Well, Harry, thank you so much for being here.
THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS. SPARE IS AVAILABLE TODAY. IT'S PRINCE HARRY, EVERYBODY.
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK. THANK YOU.