A few days before the release of his autobiography on Tuesday, Prince Harry gave two television interviews.
Broadcast on Sunday on American (CBS) and British (ITV News) channels, they were taken over by M 6 (CBS) and TF 1 (ITV News), in France, on Monday.
On this occasion, La Six grilled politeness on the front page, announcing a broadcast as part of an exceptional "19.45" presented by Xavier de Moulins, against a broadcast at 11:10 p.m. for TF 1.
“Nothing is intended to harm the family”, assured the Duke of Sussex, in the interview broadcast by M 6, adding that his book gave “a complete vision of what happened”.
“My brother and I love each other (…).
But there has been a lot of pain between us, especially over the past six years.
He acknowledged that he and William were "not talking to each other at the moment" and that he hadn't spoken with his father "for quite a while".
Much of the interview, conducted by journalist Anderson Cooper, discusses the death in August 1997 of Harry and William's mother, Diana.
The 38-year-old Briton, who has lived in the United States for two years with his wife Meghan, told how he heard the news.
“I was in shock.
Imagine, I was 12, it's half past seven in the morning: your father sits down next to you, puts his hand on your leg and tells you there's been an accident.
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“The army saved me”
He said he first mourned his mother's death after the funeral.
“For a very long time, I refused to admit that she was gone,” he added, adding that he had believed for many years that Diana was temporarily gone and that she would one day reappear.
A hope that lasted into adulthood.
At 20, Harry asked to see the police file on his mother's death in order "to get proof that she had been injured, that the paparazzi were after her", he told the journalist of CBS.
“All I saw was the back of Mom's head slumped in the back seat.
"It was obvious that the British press had played a part in our mother's misfortune and I had so much anger in me", he added, indicating "having started drinking a lot" and "even started to do drugs”.
Salvation, he owes it to the British army.
“It was the army that saved me,” he said, saying he “first felt normal” when he was a soldier.
Harry served ten years in the British Army, ending his career as a captain.
He was sent to Afghanistan twice, first in 2007 and 2008, a period during which he was responsible for coordinating air attacks, then again in 2012 and 2013 as a helicopter gunship pilot.
Around the world
This interview was broadcast a few hours before the publication of Prince Harry's memoir - at midnight on Tuesday - in which no member of the British monarchy seems to be spared.
The most explosive passages of the book, entitled "The Substitute", have already been around the world since bookstores in Spain mistakenly placed it on their shelves a few hours Thursday.
Read alsoWith William, an impossible reconciliation?
The divisions within British royalty appear in a very raw light, confronting this institution with planetary influence with a deep crisis barely four months after the death of the very popular Elizabeth II.
We already know that William, the heir to the throne, his "beloved brother and sworn enemy", is his main target.
But King Charles III, head of state of 15 countries who will be crowned on May 6, is not spared either.
Just like Kate, the wife of William, and Camilla, the queen consort.
