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Prince Harry Sits Down with 60 Minutes and Good Morning America

By A.J. Katz 

Prince Harry has embarked on a U.S. press tour to promote his much-talked-about new memoir Spare. He recently sat down with Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes and Michael Strahan for Good Morning America. He will also appear on CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Tuesday.

His 60 Minutes sit-down aired Sunday. Parts of the 60 Minutes interview will also air Monday on Cooper’s CNN show AC360. Prince Harry’s GMA sit-down with Strahan aired Monday.

In addition to discussing his memoir with Cooper on 60 Minutes, Harry recounted his childhood, the loss of his mother and his rift with the royal family, including treatment of his wife Meghan Markle.

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Harry was 12 when his mother, Princess Diana, was killed in a car crash in Paris. It was August 1997, and he was at Balmoral Castle in Scotland with other members of the royal family. In his book, Harry described the moment his father, Prince Charles, woke him up to tell him what had happened.

COOPER: “In the book you write, ‘He says, “They tried, darling boy. I’m afraid she didn’t make it.” These phrases remain in my mind like darts on a board,’ you say. Did you cry?”

HARRY: “No. No. Never shed a single tear at that point. I was in shock, you know? Twelve years old. Sort of— 7, 7:30 in the morning, early. Your father comes in, sits on your bed, puts his hand on your knee and tells you, ‘There’s been an accident.’ I couldn’t believe.”

COOPER: “You write in the book, ‘Pa didn’t hug me. He wasn’t great at showing emotions under normal circumstances. But his hand did fall once more on my knee and he said, ‘It’s going to be OK.’ But after that, nothing was OK for a long time.’”

HARRY: “No, nothing, nothing was OK.”

Harry also told Cooper that he refused to accept his mom’s death for years.

HARRY: “For a long time, I just refused to accept that she was— she was gone. Part of, you know, she would never do this to us, but also part of, maybe this is all part of a plan.”

COOPER: You really believed that maybe she had just decided to disappear for a time?”

HARRY: “For a time, and then that she would call us and that we would go and join her, yeah.”

Harry also detailed his thoughts on Camilla, the Queen Consort, of whom he is arguably the most critical in the memoir.

HARRY: “She was portrayed by the tabloids as “the villain. She was the third person in their marriage. She needed to rehabilitate her image.”

COOPER: “You and your brother both directly asked your dad not to marry Camilla?” Cooper asked.

HARRY: “Yes. We didn’t think it was necessary. We thought that it was gonna cause more harm than good, and if he was now with his person, that— surely that’s enough. Why go that far when you don’t necessarily need to? We wanted him to be happy. And we saw how happy he was with her. So, at the time, it was, ‘OK.’”

Additionally, he told Cooper the family did not include hm in travel plans before Queen Elizabeth II passed away.

HARRY: “I asked my brother— I said, ‘What are your plans? How are you and Kate getting up there?’ And then, a couple of hours later, you know, all of the family members that live within the Windsor and Ascot area were jumping on a plane together. A plane with 12, 14, maybe 16 seats.”

COOPER: “You were not invited on that plane?”

HARRY: “I was not invited.”

By the time Harry got to Balmoral on his own, the queen was dead.

Prince Harry did disclose that he hasn’t spoken with his brother or father in “quite a while,” but that he does “look forward to having a relationship with my brother. I look forward to having a relationship with my father and other members of my family.” 

60 Minutes said it has reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. Palace representatives demanded that before considering commenting the broadcast provide them with its report prior to it airing, which of course is something the broadcast doesn’t do.

In a GMA sit-down with Strahan, Prince Harry spoke about grieving Princess Diana and how military service saved him. He also touched on the devastating aftermath of Princess Diana’s death when he was just 12, and how therapy and starting a family with Meghan finally helped him process his grief.

Strahan also asked Harry if he feels there is a place for the monarchy in modern society.

Like 60 Minutes, Good Morning America said it reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. And was the case with 60, Palace representatives demanded that before considering making a comment the show provide them with its report prior to it airing, which of course is something ABC News doesn’t do either.

The Prince Harry-Strahan Good Morning America sit-down will also stream Monday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC News Live and Hulu.

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