Prince Harry says he didn’t ‘air dirty laundry in public’ with bombshell book

Prince Harry spoke about his relationship with his family on a trip to Ukraine last week (Picture: Emmi Korhonen/Lehtikuva/Shutterstock)

Prince Harry has said his ‘conscience is clear’ and he doesn’t believe he ‘aired dirty laundry’ when he wrote his memoir Spare about his relationships with his family.

The book, published at the beginning of 2023, detailed his life from childhood to his decision to step back from the Royal Family with his wife Meghan and quickly became a bestseller.

It raised eyebrows for its strikingly candid approach, with the inclusion of many personal details about himself and his relatives.

But in an interview with the Guardian to mark a secretly planned trip to Ukraine, he denied trying to stir up trouble or controversy with its publication.

The Duke of Sussex said: ‘I know that [speaking out] annoys some people and it goes against the narrative. The book? It was a series of corrections to stories already out there.

‘One point of view had been put out and it needed to be corrected.’

He added: ‘I don’t believe that I aired my dirty laundry in public.

‘It was a difficult message, but I did it in the best way possible. My conscience is clear.’

Last week, the Duke met his father King Charles for the first time in 20 months during a brief visit to the UK.

King Charles arriving at Clarence House for his meeting with Harry (Picture: Reuters)

The pair spent about 55 minutes together inside Clarence House, near Buckingham Palace in central London, before Harry dashed out for an Invictus event.

In the interview, he explained that he was keen to spend more of his life in the UK and bring his children Archie and Lilibet over one day.

His meetings over the past week have ‘definitely brought that closer’, he said.

In the year to come, the Duke said the ‘focus really has to be on my dad’.

Harry’s trip to Ukraine came as a result of an invitation from Volodymyr Zelensky’s government, following his work helping to provide wounded soldiers with rehabilitative sport therapy through Invictus.

Harry visited memorials for Ukrainian and foreign soldiers on his trip (Picture: Emmi Korhonen/Lehtikuva/Shutterstock)

An estimated 130,000 people in Ukraine have been left with permanent disabilities since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The Duke had previously visited the country in April to meet veterans at the Superhumans Centre in Lviv, where injured military personnel and civilians are treated.

According to the Guardian, Zelensky was keen to meet Harry on his latest trip to Kyiv but the British government preferred for a public meeting not to take place.

New Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper was also visiting the Ukrainian capital on the same day for a meeting with the President, her first trip overseas since being appointed to the role.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Comments