Prince was hoping for Diana’s return – Harry thought mum’s death was faked!

On Tuesday, his eagerly awaited memoir “Reserve” (originally: “Spare”) will finally be officially released. The book – a break with royal protocol.

In the night from Sunday to Monday, however, Prince Harry already answered the questions of journalist Anderson Cooper (55) in his first US interview on the program “60 Minutes” on CBS. 60 Minutes is the oldest (since 1968) and most-watched news program on American television.

Dark sweater, white shirt – Prince Harry looks serious but very determined. And carries his innermost being, his inner life, to the outside. In front of an audience of millions.

Harry about his brother Prince William

Prince Harry claims that the problems between him and brother Prince William didn’t start with Meghan Markle. Rather, their feud goes back years.

Although they went through the same traumatic experience when Diana died, they dealt with it very differently. “My brother and I love each other. I love him very much. There’s been a lot of pain between the two of us, especially in the last six years.”

Above all, he was hurt that William ordered the school to pretend that the two did not know each other.

Harry: “It was never a case of ‘I don’t want to talk to you about this’ for me. I don’t know how to talk about this. I never thought that talking about it with my brother or anyone else might be therapeutic.”

Harry thought Mama’s death was faked

Prince Harry reiterates his longstanding disbelief in the death of his mother and his belief that the deceased was indeed alive somewhere. For a long time he refused to accept that she was no longer there.

“Maybe today is the day. Maybe that’s the day she’ll reappear,” Harry thought until he was 23 years old. He believed her death had been faked and maybe part of a plan!

Harry continued, “Part of it was that she would never do that to us. But also part of the fact that maybe it’s all part of a plan.”

That’s why he insisted on reading the police report. In it he saw some of the disturbing accident photos. His private secretary and adviser advised him not to see the rest.

The prince says today: “All I saw was the back of my mother’s head – slumped in the back seat. There were other more gruesome photos, but I will be eternally grateful to him (his advisor, ed.) for denying my ability to hurt myself by seeing this. Because that’s the stuff that sticks in your memory forever.”

The worst thing for him was “(…) that the last thing Princess Diana probably saw was the lights from paparazzi cameras.”

Even Meghan sought advice from the dead Lady Di

Dialogue with a dead person: on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana († 36), Harry and Meghan (41) visited her grave on the Althorp estate in 2017.

Meghan wanted a private moment at the grave so Harry walked away. In his memoir, he wrote: “When I came back she was on her knees with her eyes closed and her palms flat on the stone.” Meghan told him that she asked Diana for “clarity and guidance”.

Harry also relies on her emotional support. For years he’s had a lock of his mother’s hair in a box on his bedside table.

Harry on his drug excesses

According to Prince Harry, alongside his therapy, he also began trying experimental drugs that he claimed “acted as medicine.”

He drank heavily, smoked marijuana and used cocaine. Mainly to numb his emotions and distract himself. The illegal substances helped him because they were able to “(…) clean the windshield, the misery of loss. This idea that I had to cry to prove to my mother that I missed her. Even though she just wanted me to be happy.”

About his military service

His military career saved him in many ways. You got him out of the limelight of the British press. “I was able to focus on a goal bigger than myself. I wore the same uniform as everyone else and felt normal for the first time in my life.”

Harry on wife Meghan

“The fact that she’s American, an actress, divorced, black, with a black mother. Those were just four of the typical stereotypes that the British press ate.”

What Meghan went through was partly similar to what Kate and Camilla went through, Harry said. Except that ‘the element of race’ was added, which the British press jumped at.

The Prince: “I was incredibly naive. I had no idea the British press was so biased. Heck, I was probably just as biased before my relationship with Meghan.”

About the fight with William

Harry tells Anderson Cooper about the moment Prince William snapped during their argument at Nottingham Cottage in 2019.

Prince William yelled at him and pushed him to the ground. Harry landed on a dog bowl. “Yes. I hurt my back. I didn’t know at the time.” According to Prince Harry, he would not have told Meghan about the fight if she hadn’t noticed the scratches from the fall.

Harry also explained why his departure from the royal family had to be so public. “Every time I’ve tried privately, there have been briefings and leaks and stories against me and my wife,” Harry told Cooper. “The family motto is never complain, never explain. But it’s just a motto.”

About Camilla

In his book, Prince Harry’s portrayal of his stepmother, Camilla, who is now Queen Consort, is perhaps the most critical.

She married then-Prince Charles in 2005, although the two are said to have had a fling for decades. Princess Diana famously referred to Camilla as the “third person” in their marriage, and Prince Harry hasn’t forgotten that.

She was portrayed by the tabloids as “the bad guy,” according to Harry to Cooper. “She was the third person in their marriage. She had to rehabilitate her image.” At the time, he and his brother had asked their father directly not to marry Camilla.

“We didn’t think it was necessary. We thought it would do more harm than good.” But then the change of heart: “We wanted him to be happy. And we saw how happy he was with her. So it was ‘ok’ at the time.”

Harry on the death of the Queen

After it became known at the beginning of September 2022 how serious the Queen († 96) was, Harry contacted his brother to talk about his plans for a trip to Balmoral. At the time, Prince Harry and Meghan were in the UK for a charity event. So very close!

But Harry says bitterly: “A few hours later, all the family members who live in the Windsor and Ascot area jumped on a plane together. A plane with twelve, 14, maybe 16 seats. I wasn’t invited.”

When Harry arrived in Scotland on September 8th, the Queen was already dead.

Harry found out from the BBC website. After his grandmother’s death, he “spent some time alone with her” in her bedroom in Balmoral. “I was really happy for her. Because she had finished with life. She had lived her life and her husband was waiting for her. And the two are buried together.”

Return to the royal family?

There must be a constructive conversation that can take place in private without anything leaking out: “It all started with them torpedoing my wife with lies on a daily basis, to the point where my wife and I had to flee our country .”

Harry can’t imagine going back at the moment. “Meghan and I have said time and time again that we will openly apologize for anything we did wrong, but every time we ask that question, nobody tells us the specifics or anything.”

Reconciliation?

Despite all his criticism of his family members, Harry says he just wants to reconcile with his family. Currently there is NO contact with William and his father Charles!

Harry: “I would really look forward to having that family element back. I look forward to having a relationship with my brother. I look forward to having a relationship with my father and other family members. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”