Prince Harry coolly responds to claims of hypocrisy over privacy – ‘They don’t understand’

Prince Harry has hit back at accusations of hypocrisy surrounding the privacy of his family by saying critics "don't understand".

The Duke of Sussex, who is preparing for the release of his tell-all book, Spare, accused the press of briefing against him and wife Meghan when questioned about the autobiography.

The comments, which will add further pressure on the Royal Family, emerged in a second trailer for an ITV interview.

Harry was asked by interviewer Tom Bradby whether the release of the book was hypocritical given he has previously criticised the palace for feeding negative stories about him and Meghan to the press but is now prepared to reveal so much behind-the-scenes information about his own family.

In the clip, Harry tells Bradby: “I don’t know how staying silent is ever going to make things better."

Bradby goes on: “Some people will say you’ve railed against invasions of your privacy all your life and the accusation will be here are you invading the privacy of your nearest and dearest without permission.”

Harry responds: “That would be the accusation from people that don’t understand or don’t want to believe that my family have been briefing the press.”

In the trailer, Harry also spoke more about the rift and his brother William, the Prince of Wales.

Watch: Harry claims William physically attacked him in leaked extract of book

Bradby – a friend of Harry's – asks: “Wouldn’t your brother say to you, ‘Harry, how could you do this to me after everything? After everything we went through?’ Wouldn’t that be what he would say?”

Harry says: “He would probably say all sorts of different things.”

Also in the trailer, Harry insists he still believes in the monarchy but when asked if he will play a part in its future, he replies: “I don’t know.”

Asked if he will attend the King’s coronation if he is invited, Harry replies: “There’s a lot that can happen between now and then.

“But, the door is always open. The ball is in their court.

“There’s a lot to be discussed and I really hope that they’re willing to sit down and talk about it.”

Leaked extracts of Harry's book have made astonishing claims about his rift with the Royal Family, including how he was apparently physically attacked by his brother over his marriage to Meghan.

Harry alleged the confrontation, which left him with a visible injury to his back, took place at his London home in 2019 and saw the Prince of Wales grab his brother by the collar and rip his necklace before knocking him to the floor.

Harry also alleges that it was William and the Princess of Wales who encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party 2005 and “howled” with laughter when they saw it.

Harry, then 20, sparked outrage and was widely condemned when a photograph of him in the uniform complete with swastika ended up on the front page of a newspaper.

He said in his Netflix documentary: “It was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life.”

Other revelations from the book include how the brothers call each other “Willy” and “Harold” and that Charles pleaded with his sons during a tense meeting after the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral: “Please, boys. Don’t make my final years a misery.”

The Guardian, who carried the leaks of the book, tells how Harry wrote that William had wanted to discuss “the whole rolling catastrophe” of their relationship and struggles with the press, but was already “piping hot” when he arrived at the cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace.

Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace have not commented on the claims.

Harry: The Interview airs on ITV1 at 9pm on Sunday, 8 January.