Prince Harry has sensationally accused the monarchy of trying to ‘undermine’ his explosive memoir Spare because its controversial contents have ‘perhaps made them feel uncomfortable and scared’ as he launched another furious attack on the royal family in the latest in a line of TV interviews to promote his book.
The 38-year-old held nothing back as he took aim at his family during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, where he lurched between hurling more barbs at his family and making light-hearted jokes including about his ‘frost-nipped’ genitals while swigging a glass of tequila.
Harry also took part in a skit with Tom Hanks and clinked glasses with Colbert as he praised America as a ‘great place to live’ and said how much he loves ‘beautiful California’, sparking cheers from the audience. He whipped up the crowd on several occasions, offering them all some tequila and talking about his Army career, asking: ‘Are there any veterans in the house?’
One of the more serious moments during the lengthy sit-down saw Harry rounding on his relatives over the backlash to his memoir, with Colbert questioning whether he believes the royals have an ‘active campaign to undermine this book’.
‘Of course,’ the duke responded – adding that ‘the British Press’ has also been complicit in the ‘campaign’, with Colbert chiming in: ‘But aided and abetted by the Palace.’
‘Again of course,’ Harry confirmed. ‘But this is the other side of the story, right? After 38 years, they have told their side of the story. This is the other side of the story.’
The father-of-two then suggested that what he perceives as the royals’ ‘campaign’ against his memoir has come as a result of them being ‘uncomfortable and scared’ over its contents.
‘There is a lot in there that, perhaps, makes people feel uncomfortable and scared,’ he continued.
Prince Harry has sensationally accused the monarchy of trying to ‘undermine’ his explosive memoir Spare because its controversial contents have ‘perhaps made them feel uncomfortable and scared’
The 38-year-old’s latest attack on his family came during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday – the latest in a line of interviews that the duke has done to tout his bombshell book
Harry’s wide-ranging sit-down with Colbert saw him flitting between slinging barbs at the royals and making light-hearted, cringeworthy jokes – including poking fun at his ‘frost-nipped’ penis
The wide-ranging interview with Colbert saw Harry address a number of topics ranging from the farcical to the furious, with the duke launching several tirades against the British Press – accusing it of ‘abusing’ his wife Meghan and bizarrely suggesting that it was ’embarrassing’ for the media when he chose to quit the Royal Family and relocate to the US.
During the interview, Harry also:
- Furiously slammed accusations that he ‘boasted’ about killing 25 Taliban fighters, while blaming his critics for ‘spinning’ his words and putting his ‘family in danger’;
- Revealed he still wears the necklace he says his brother Prince William broke during a fight over Meghan, having had it repaired;
- Confirmed that he has watched ‘old and more recent’ episodes of The Crown despite it featuring depictions of Diana’s bulimia battle and divorce from Charles;
- Made a thinly-veiled dig at his father and the royals by saying that the ‘Spencer gene is very strong’ in reference to his children and their ginger hair;
- Discussed his ‘frost-nipped’ penis while laughing at Colbert’s jokes about his ‘royal jewels’;
- Shared his fondest memories of the Queen, praising her ‘sharp wit’ and ‘sense of humour’;
From the get-go, it was clear that the interview – which comes at the end of a transatlantic PR blitz to tout his memoir – would ‘spare’ nobody in the monarchy, with the opening seconds of the show featuring a mocking skit that ridiculed royal tradition.
The show opened with a clip showing Colbert standing alongside two trumpeters wearing replicas of the uniforms traditionally worn by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry. As Harry strolled down a red carpet they began their fanfare, with the duke putting on a mock display of humility and telling the TV host such pomp ‘wasn’t necessary’.
Then Harry leaned on Colbert’s Hollywood pulling power, with actor Tom Hanks joining the prince as the host proclaimed that the trumpets had in fact been intended not for the duke, but for the 66-year-old star all along.
Colbert then performed his traditional opening monologue ahead of his lengthy chat with Harry began, but not before the host poured each of them a glass of tequila.
Harry sipped on a glass of tequila throughout the interview, having been offered a ‘cocktail’ by Colbert when he sat down
At one point Colbert asked about a section in Harry’s memoir in which he accuses his brother, Prince William, of physically attacking him and ‘breaking his necklace’ – which he revealed he has had repaired and still wears
In another sign that Harry has adopted a ‘Hollywood’ personality, the duke made several attempts at comedy throughout the interview
‘I know that you yourself are a very private person for being a public figure,’ he said, while brandishing a copy of Harry’s book. ‘You are revealing a lot of things in here. It must be on a certain level kind of nerve-wracking to be out there publicly, physically representing the book… Would you like a cocktail before we begin?’
‘Yes please!’ Harry responded as Colbert pulled out a bottle of liquor.
In the first of many audience interactions, the duke turned to the group of spectators – which he revealed later included several veterans – to ask whether the late-night host ‘ever makes you guys a drink’.
In another sign that Harry has adopted a ‘Hollywood’ personality, the duke made several attempts at comedy during the interview, trading banter with Colbert and – in one of the most cringeworthy moments of the sit-down – gleefully expressing mock regret that his frostbitten penis didn’t turn into a rock-solid icicle.
While the interview elicited plenty of laughs from the audience, it is sure to have had Palace insiders rolling their eyes and gritting their teeth as the duke laid bare several intimate stories, ranging from the eye-wateringly awkward to the bitterly brutal – with Harry pulling no punches when it came to his observations about his family.
For the most part, the sit-down addressed many of the same topics that Harry has covered in his other interviews – which have included on-air chats with ITV’s Tom Bradby in the UK and, in the US, with 60 Minutes and Good Morning America, as well as a cover feature and photoshoot for People magazine.
Harry traded banter with Colbert and – in one of the most cringeworthy moments of the sit-down – gleefully expressed mock regret that his frostbitten penis didn’t turn into a rock-solid icicle
Some critics have claimed these more serious interviews failed to properly question or address contradictions in Harry’s book, yet the prince chose to wrap up his media blitz with The Late Show, in what appears to be an attempt to tout his memoir in a more light-hearted manner.
As he has done in every other interview, Harry addressed his sensational claim that his brother, Prince William, physically attacked him during a fight over Meghan – with Colbert taking particular interest in the necklace that the duke accused his sibling of breaking during the altercation.
Harry revealed that he has since had the necklace fixed and pulled it out of his shirt, revealing that it now holds three pendants – two of which were presents from Meghan and are engraved with the heartbeats of their children, Archie and Lilibet, while the other was made for him by a ‘friend in Botswana’ and features a tiger’s eye stone at its center.
Prince Harry mocks the monarchy: Duke ridicules royal tradition (with the help of Hollywood star Tom Hanks) as he kicks off The Late Show with skit featuring trumpet fanfare and heralds in uniforms
Prince Harry kicked off the latest in a long line of TV interviews by ridiculing royal tradition and mocking the monarchy – with the help of Hollywood A-lister Tom Hanks.
The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex poked fun at royal pomp and circumstance during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote his memoir Spare, for which he pre-filmed a skit that showed him being greeted at the CBS studios by two trumpet heralds wearing regal uniforms.
In the video, Harry is seen rounding a corner and walking along a red carpet while the trumpeters begin their fanfare, with the duke telling Colbert in a show of mock humility: ‘Woah, woah, woah, stop, stop. Stephen, not needed, but thank you, I appreciate it.’
‘What are you talking about? This isn’t for you!’ Colbert, 58, responds, before urging Harry: ‘Get out of the way, he’s coming!’
At that point, Hanks, 66, who was a guest on the late-night show on Monday – when the duke filmed his own interview – comes around the corner, jokingly exclaiming: ‘I’m back! Where’s my fanfare?’ while Harry throws rose petals at him.
Prince Harry kicked off the latest in a long line of TV interviews by ridiculing royal tradition and mocking the monarchy – with the help of Hollywood A-lister Tom Hanks
The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex poked fun at royal pomp and circumstance during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The episode of The Late Show kicked off with a skit featuring Harry and Hanks, 66, being greeted by royal fanfare as they entered the CBS studios
The trumpeters featured on The Late Show were sporting uniforms that appeared to be replicas of the official garb worn by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry – who perform the fanfare at official state events, such as Harry’s wedding and Prince Philip’s funeral. However in place of the royal standard, they had the letters ‘L’ and ‘S’ embroidered on their jackets.
Harry’s pre-taped interview with Colbert has already resulted in several explosive moments which were brought to light courtesy of teaser clips shared on the CBS show’s Twitter account.
In those trailers, the duke furiously denied that he ‘boasted’ about killing 25 Taliban fighters, while taking aim at his critics for ‘spinning’ his words and putting his ‘family in danger’.
He also confirmed to the TV host that he watches controversial Netflix series The Crown, admitting that he has even seen ‘more recent’ episodes, which portray dramatized versions of his late mother Diana’s battle with bulimia and his parents’ bitter divorce.
Meanwhile a trailer for the episode saw Colbert ridiculing the Royal Family, comparing the duke to Harry Potter and joking that his book is available as a commemorative plate.
After playing a clip where Harry describes his pain at William trying to avoid him at Eton, the Late Show presenter said to roars of laughter: ‘That’s heartbreaking. To be rejected by his older brother at school even though that magic hat sorted them into the same house. What do you think? Hufflepuff? Gryffindor?’
After Colbert tells Harry that the trumpeters were not for him, but rather for Hanks, the duke begins throwing rose petals at the laughing actor
After a series of serious TV interviews the prince chose to do The Late Show, in what appears to be an attempt to tout his memoir in a more light-hearted manner
The trumpeters featured in the show were wearing replica uniforms of the official garb sported by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry who perform the fanfare at official state events, including Harry’s wedding and Prince Philip’s funeral. Right, the State Trumpeters during preparations for Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018
In another teaser Colbert said Spare is available in hardback, audiobook and ‘commemorative plate’ – a joke at the expense of Harry and other royals whose weddings and anniversaries are marked with limited edition tableware and crockery.
And then in a further joke at the Royal Family’s expense Colbert says: ‘Stock up on corgis and steal a priceless cultural treasure from one of your colonies because The Late Show is going imperial.’
Harry’s book also contains anecdotes that appear to poke fun at his family including hanging a trinket likeness of the Queen on a Christmas tree.
In Spare, the prince reveals that Meghan gave him an ornament of the Queen that she had bought from a local store in California.
Harry writes that it was ‘Granny’s face to a T’ and he hung it on the Christmas tree in their California home.
Toddler Archie was running around and knocked the tree’s stand, which caused the ornament to fall off and smash into pieces.
Harry reveals he still wears ‘fixed’ necklace William ‘broke’ during physical row – and shows charms of kids’ heartbeats and tiger’s eye pendant made by friend in Botswana
Harry confirmed that he is still wearing the necklace he accused his brother of ripping from his neck during a physical attack in 2019 – showing the now fixed jewelry to the cameras.
In one of the most extraordinary lines in his memoir, Harry writes that his brother branded Meghan ‘rude’ and ‘difficult’, resulting in what he says was William attacking him, alleging: ‘[William] grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor.’
Harry said he has now fixed the necklace that he accused his brother William of breaking and revealed that it holds three charms – two that are engraved with Archie and Lilibet’s heartbeats and another that was made by a friend in Botswana
The story prompted a storm of controversy – one that Colbert brought up during the interview when he asked Prince Harry about ‘the physical fight’, questioning: ‘There is 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 he broke your necklace. What necklace was this that he broke?’
‘Uh, this one, which is now fixed,’ Harry replied, pulling out a black leather cord from his shirt and showing off three silver pendants that dangled from it – two of which are engraved with heartbeats of his two children, Archie and Lilibet, and the third of which he says ‘a friend in Botswana made for me and which has got a tiger’s eye in the middle’.
A tiger’s eye is said to bring power, inner strength, healing and courage. Some cultures believe it wards off the evil eye.
It is an inexpensive stone, mainly found in South Africa, but with deposits also found in Namibia, Australia, India, and Thailand.
Harry has been seen wearing the necklace for many years, giving rise to speculation it was a gift from his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, who he dated from 2004 until 2010.
Duke denies he ‘boasted’ about killing 25 Taliban fighters – and blames critics for ‘spinning’ his words and putting his ‘family in danger’
Prince Harry furiously slammed accusations that he ‘boasted’ about killing 25 Taliban fighters in his memoir – while accusing his critics of ‘spinning’ his words and spouting ‘lies’ about the revelation, which he says have put his family ‘in danger’.
The 38-year-old vehemently defended his decision to share the information, hitting back at accusations that he ‘undermined his own security’ by writing about his Taliban kills, while blaming his critics for spreading ‘dangerous lies’ and ‘spinning his words’.
‘I think one of… the most dangerous lies that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I have killed in Afghanistan,’ he told Colbert.
‘I would say that if I heard anybody else, anyone, boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But it’s a lie.
During the interview Harry furiously slammed down accusations that he ‘boasted’ about killing 25 Taliban fighters
He added: ‘My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous to my family.’
He went on to insist that that the reason he chose to write about his kill count was to ‘reduce the number of suicides’ among military veterans.
‘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 to give space to others to share their experiences without any shame,’ he said – while receiving applause from the audience, which included several veterans.
‘And my whole goal, my attempt with sharing that detail is to reduce the number of suicides.’
Prince Harry laughs as he CONFIRMS he watches The Crown – hinting he’s even seen ‘more recent’ episodes that dramatize Diana’s bulimia battle and bitter divorce from Charles
Prince Harry confirmed that he watches Netflix‘s controversial series The Crown – laughing as he revealed that he has watched the ‘more recent’ episodes that portray allegedly ‘sensationalized’ accounts of his late mother Diana’s bulimia battle and her bitter divorce from Charles.
The duke laughed while joking to host Colbert that he ‘fact checks’ the highly-criticized show.
‘Yes I have actually watched The Crown,’ Harry – who has a production deal with Netflix that is reported to be worth $100million – told Colbert after the late night host asked if he had seen the series.
‘The older stuff and the more recent stuff.’
Harry then burst into fits of laughter and mimed taking notes as Colbert questioned whether he ‘fact checks’ the show – before admitting: ‘Yes, I do actually.’
He then said that The Crown does not offer an entirely factual version of events – before pointing at his bombshell memoir Spare as an apparent example of accuracy, saying: ‘Which is why it’s so important that history has it right.’
The 38-year-old’s admission that he has watched more recent episodes of The Crown suggests he has seen the show’s highly-dramatized portrayal of his parents’ bitter divorce. Above, actors Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki depict his parents in the most recent series
Despite his jovial response to the question, the duke’s admission that he’s watched multiple episodes of the show will likely prompt questions about why he and wife Meghan have continued to work with Netflix despite its brutal portrayal of the Royal Family – and Harry’s parents in particular.
Season five of the series – which is the most recent – drew bitter backlash over its ‘malicious’ storylines, which included agonizing portrayals of the breakdown of Charles and Diana’s marriage, as well as a fictional scene in which the future King is seen plotting to overthrow the Queen.
The latest storylines have been widely slammed for their ‘malicious’ and ‘lurid’ content with critics branding Harry a ‘hypocrite’ for refusing to pull the plug on his Netflix deal in response to the streaming giant’s portrayal of his family.