Prince Harry modestly declares his Spare memoir is 'essential for historical ... trends now
Prince Harry has said his explosive memoir Spare is 'essential for historical fact and significance' in his first primetime interview plugging the book.
The Duke of Sussex, 38, said the process of writing the autobiography was 'painful' and 'cathartic' during his 90-minute bombshell sit-down with ITV's Tom Bradby on Sunday night.
It comes after damaging extracts from the 416-page book were revealed this week following its accidental early release in Spain, including alleged physical altercations between William and Harry and criticisms of King Charles' parenting.
Questioned on whether he was 'looking back too much' with his interview with Bradby and releasing his memoir, the Duke of Sussex said: 'We always knew that these two projects, both the Netflix documentary and the book - one being our story and one very much being my story - they were look-back projects.
Prince Harry has said his explosive memoir Spare is 'essential for historical fact and significance' in his first primetime interview plugging the book
The Duke of Sussex, 38, said the process of writing the autobiography was 'painful' and 'cathartic' during his 90-minute bombshell sit-down with ITV's Tom Bradby on Sunday night (pictured)
'They were necessary, they were essential for historical fact and significance.
'I don't want my kids or other people of that age growing up thinking 'Oh wow, this is what happens', like no that's not what happened. This is what happened.'
He added: 'There are two sides to every story, so it's been - it's been a painful process - cathartic at times, but going back over old ground to be able to get these projects right has taken a lot of energy, and there's a lot of relief now that both these projects have been complete.
'Now we can focus on looking forward and I'm excited about that. So no, I'm not stuck in the past and I will never be stuck in the past.'
Elsewhere in the interview, Harry suggested his family has avoided accountability 'on a lot of things'.
The broadcast, which began at 9pm, focused on Harry's tumultuous relationship with his family who - in Bradby's words - the Duke of Sussex took 'a flame thrower to' in the writing of his memoirs.
In the book, Harry writes how he and William begged King Charles not to marry the now Queen consort Camilla, who he feared could become their 'wicked stepmother', before suggesting she had plotted to take the crown and leaked stories to the press.
Prince Harry suggested his family has avoided accountability 'on a lot of things' during his 90-minute sit-down interview with ITV's Tom Bradby on Sunday night (Pictured: King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla in 2018)
Speaking about what he wants from the book, Harry told Mr Bradby: 'I want reconciliation, but first there needs to be some accountability' (Pictured: Harry, Meghan, Charles and Camilla at the funeral of the late Queen)
But Harry believes nothing in his book is 'scathing' towards any member of his family.
Speaking about what he wants from his family and book, Harry told Bradby: 'I want reconciliation, but first there needs to be some accountability. You can't just continue to say to me that I'm delusional and paranoid when all the evidence is stacked up, because I was genuinely terrified about what's gonna happen to me.'
Referencing his decision to step down as a senior royal in 2019, he continued: 'And then we have a 12-month transition period, and everyone doubles down. My wife shares her experience.'
He said that instead of backing off, 'both the institution and the media doubled down.'
Bradby then addresses the claims Harry makes about his stepmother in Spare. Harry narrates the passage that reads: 'Shortly after our private meetings with her [Camilla], she began to develop her long-term strategy, a campaign directed at marriage and with time, the Crown (with the blessing of our father, we supposed).
'News stories started appearing in all the newspapers about her conversations with Willy, stories which recounted lots of small details, none of which came from my brother, of course.'
Harry says in the book that they could have only come from 'the one person' with intimate knowledge of the meetings, who could provide details with 'pin point' accuracy.
Charles had tried to win over his sons before asking the public to accept Camilla, the book claims. Harry then astonishingly says that meeting the future Queen Consort for the first time was like an 'injection'. He later says that ultimately he and William approved of Camilla.
He writes: 'I remember wondering... if she would be cruel to me; if she would be like all the wicked stepmothers in the stories'.
But Harry told Mr Bradby tonight: 'There's no part of any of the things that I've said are scathing towards any member of my family, especially not my stepmother. There are things that have happened that have been incredibly hurtful, um, some in the past, some current.'
He added: 'No institution is immune to accountability or taking responsibility. So you can't be immune to criticisms either.
The broadcast, which began at 9pm, focused on Harry's tumultuous relationship with his family who - in Bradby's words - the prince took 'a flame thrower to' in the writing of his memoirs
'And you talk about, you know, scrutiny and, you know, my wife and I were scrutinised more than, probably, anybody else. I, I see a lack of scrutiny to my family towards a lot of the things that have happened in the last year.'
He later said he had 'made peace' with everything that has happened but that he would still like his father and brother back, but that there had to be 'accountability'.
Clips previously released by ITV of Harry:
