Prince Harry has said the "most important thing is to reconcile" with his family, but his comments have drawn a blunt response from royal commentator Carole Malone, who told him: "You caused this."
In a recent interview with GQ magazine, the Duke of Sussex spoke about his complicated relationship with his father, King Charles, and his older brother, Prince William, insisting he wants to repair family ties.
Commentator Questions Harry's Motives
Carole Malone questioned why the Duke appeared to expect reconciliation after publicly discussing his family troubles. Speaking on the latest episode of Royals Unscripted, the Daily Express's YouTube and podcast series, she said: "He does all this stuff yesterday saying that he wants to reconcile but others don't want to. I want to, well, you know, tough what you want, mate, you caused this."
Daily Express royal editor Emily Ferguson also questioned how Harry appeared to be presenting the family rift, suggesting his comments played down the seriousness of what had happened between the brothers over the years. She said he was "kind of brushing it past", "as if it was just like an argument over dinner or something", adding that he was "completely forgetting what's happened over the last six years."
Memoir Claims and Timing
In his 2023 memoir Spare, which reportedly made up to £22 million, Prince Harry described Prince William as both his "beloved brother and arch-nemesis." The book included damaging claims, such as alleging that William physically attacked him during a 2019 confrontation over Meghan Markle, claiming William had encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy-dress party in 2005, and making personal observations about his brother's hair loss.
The timing of the interview has also attracted attention, as it coincided with the King's state banquet for the Sultan of Oman, involving senior working royals. The interview was recorded in late September and released moments after the Sultan's three-day state visit began on Tuesday.
Sussex Spokesperson Responds
A Sussex spokesperson said the comments had nothing to do with the royal engagements. The spokesperson said: "It was absolutely not intended as a swipe at his brother or any other member of his family. The comment was made in a general context and was not directed at his family in any way."
Asked whether he grieved his complicated relationships with his brother and father, the Duke said: "Yes, of course. I think from a family perspective, again: another massively relatable issue for so many people. There's sibling disagreements, there's broken relationships between kids and their parents, kids and one parent. That continues to come up with me the whole time by people that I speak to. So I know how relatable it is. That's probably why there's so much fascination. And then people maybe look at us and go, 'How are you going to work it out?' And then, maybe, how I see you're going to work it out, maybe that will help me work my stuff out. And some people don't want it to work out. I want it to work out."
When the reporter then asked "You do?", Harry responded: "Of course I do. Again, with everything else that's going on in the world, the most important thing is to reconcile. That's the key point."
