Prince Harry has caught the attention of his estranged family — but not in a good way!
As the ex-royal puts his family’s dirty laundry on blast in excerpts of his memoir Spare, which hits shelves on Tuesday, and in various explosive interviews, those still in The Firm are fuming!
According to a source close to the royal family via ET on Sunday, the “family is bracing themselves for the next round of allegations” — which were just revealed in Harry’s ITV, 60 Minutes, and Good Morning America interviews. And there’s still plenty more media appearances to come, including a Tuesday night spot on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert! Lots of cause for concern for the palace!
Related: Harry Stayed At Crush Courteney Cox’s Home — & Did A Bunch Of Shrooms!
Per the insider, Prince William is the most upset as he feels his younger brother has “crossed a line.” The confidant elaborated:
“The family is appalled that Harry has revealed such private and lurid details which are completely inappropriate.”
Apparently, nobody thought Harry would ever go this far and share this much insider info with the world, but now that he has, they don’t trust him! And Spare is now acting as a bit of self-sabotage for the Invictus Games founder, the source explained:
“He’s gone about dealing with it the wrong way. The problem is no family conversation can ever take place because Harry claims he and Meghan [Markle] are opposed to leaks and then he and Meghan share extremely private family matters with the public.”
Oooh. Interesting! It sure isn’t surprising to hear the royal family might be hesitant to hash out their issues with the Duke of Sussex now. If he doesn’t get his way again, what’s to stop him from continuing to blab about their so-called private conversations?! He’s proven he’s not very loyal! Or at least is doing so to get their attention.
While Harry mostly takes aim at Will in the book, he “still makes jabs at his father,” which has been “deeply upsetting” to King Charles III. A second insider told the outlet “no one in the family trust Harry anymore” and that he knows “these types of personal revelations have crossed a line.” Still, the new monarch is open to mending his relationship with his youngest and hopes the brothers can heal their rift in the future. Feels like a pipe dream at this point!
Another insider told Page Six the fam’s senior advisers have set up a “war room” to deal with the fallout! Damn! The UK Daily Telegraph confirmed the palace was on a “war footing” ahead of Spare‘s release, even though, after reading the excerpts, their worst fears were not realized. Hmm. So, Harry is holding back a bit?
Apparently, top staff discussed the situation while the royals were all gathered at Sandringham Estate for their first Christmas without Queen Elizabeth II. A plan was drawn up to deal with the revelations expected in the memoir, Page Six’s insiders detailed. To prepare for the backlash, the royals and their staff brainstormed all the possible stories that might come to light, including Harry’s alleged fight with William over Meghan. One highly placed source revealed:
“There were undoubtedly fears about what Harry was going to write, and in particular they were worried about the highly personal moments of their lives being retold.”
Notably, not everyone had the same plan of attack, though, the source added:
“The King wanted to move ahead with the traditional ‘stiff upper lip’ attitude and follow in the Queen’s famous footsteps of ‘never complain, never explain’, but the Prince of Wales argued that perhaps the family should, in fact, go on the offensive and release a statement, much in the same way he said ‘We are very much not a racist family,’ but he was overruled by his father.”
The Duke of Cambridge’s idea to publish a statement wasn’t the only press opportunity to get shut down. Per Page Six, William and his wife Princess Catherine were offered a long list of prestigious interviews from both American and British media outlets — in which all proceeds would have gone to royal charities — but they were forced to turn them down! Wow!
Related: Harry Admits Princess Diana Would Be ‘Sad’ About Painful Feud With William
King Charles was behind this decision, as well. He convinced them nothing good could come from speaking out, which makes sense considering his own complicated past with the press. In 1993, he admitted to cheating on Princess Diana with Queen Camilla in a chat with Jonathan Dimbleby. We’re sure he doesn’t want to see Harry and William butting heads on an even more public platform!!
While it sounds like William would rather fight back, he is supposedly aware of the importance of staying quiet. A close friend of the feuding bros told The Sunday Times of London:
“He (William) won’t retaliate, he never would, because he’s dignified and unbelievably loyal. William is a sitting duck because Harry knows he isn’t going to retaliate. How many shots can you take at a sitting duck? It’s cruel, cowardly and so sad for William to keep taking the punches. He’s keeping quiet for the good of his family and the country.”
Keeping quiet might help his family, but we just know William must be building up so much resentment for Harry! That diminishing hairline jab would have us seething!! And it’s going to make a future reconciliation so much harder. Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know what you think (below)!
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