LONDON — Prince Harry has said his tell-all memoir was “not about revenge,” defending his decision to go public with royal disputes as he worked to mend ties with his family — and the British public.
Harry also signaled a desire to see more of his father, King Charles III, after their first meeting in almost two years. The brief tea was a step toward reconciliation after Harry’s 2023 memoir, “Spare,” revealed new details about the royal family’s bitter internal feud, including claims that his brother, Prince William, physically attacked him.
“I don’t believe that I aired my dirty laundry in public,” Harry told The Guardian newspaper in an interview published Sunday.
“It was a difficult message, but I did it in the best way possible. My conscience is clear,” Harry said during a trip to Ukraine after several days in the U.K. that included his sit-down with the king.
Harry visited the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with a team from his Invictus Games Foundation following an invitation from the Ukrainian government.
“It is not about revenge, it is about accountability,” Harry added of his book. “You cannot have reconciliation before you have truth.”
Harry, the Duke of Sussex, who turned 41 on Monday, described the book as “a series of corrections to stories already out there.”
His relationship with his family has long been strained, but it became publicly fractious after he and his wife, Meghan Markle, quit front-line royal duties in 2020 and moved to California to launch a mix of media projects and charitable work.
Last week, Harry met Charles for a private tea at the king’s residence — the first time the pair had seen each other in 19 months. Details of the meeting remain quiet, but Harry suggested he wants, and needs, to see his father more often.
Over the coming year, he said, “the focus really has to be on my dad.”
Charles was diagnosed with cancer in February 2024 and has kept many of the details private.
Harry added that his trip to the U.K. had brought him closer to the idea of spending more time there — and even one day bringing his children, despite unresolved disputes over his security arrangements.
“This week has definitely brought that closer,” he said.
Just 33% of Brits have positive opinions of Harry, according to a recent poll, making him one of the least popular prominent royals, ahead of only his wife, at 21%, and Prince Andrew, at 9%.
After Harry stepped down from royal duties, his U.K. protection was downgraded from full-time cover to case by case. He lost an appeal in court to overturn that decision this year.
In May, he told the BBC that his father would not speak to him “because of this security stuff,” but he said that he was eager to reconcile with the royal family and that “there’s no point in continuing to fight people.”
Relations with his brother, the heir to the throne, do not appear to have improved. The pair have not met since February 2024.
