Prince Harry - the interview (courtesy of yes)
Prince Harry, the youngest son of the King of England, went to war.
the enemy?
The British yellow press.
Not even a month has passed since the second part of the Netflix series on Harry and Meghan, a documentary series that was widely covered all over the world, came out, and here comes the next wave in the attack, in the form of a series of high-profile interviews to promote his new autobiographical book, which was released this week.
Harry sat down with serious interviewers such as Anderson Cooper in America and Tom Bradby in the UK, and was also a guest on Stephen Colbert's Tonight Show, for a lighter and more smiling interview.
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Since the book was published a few days ago, the whole world has been preoccupied with the bombs that Harry landed there, with the scandalous secrets revealed in this tell-all book.
As usual, there is much more preoccupation with the sensational and yellow parts, with stories about what goes on in the rooms of Buckingham Palace, and the Internet is full of articles that have taken sentences without context and organized them into clickbait lists like "26 shocking things Prince Harry said about his brother William".
But according to Harry, the purpose of the book is not to expose the royal institution to ridicule and tell secrets.
The name of the book immediately hints at what kind of story is going to be told in it.
He is called "Spare" and refers to the fact that Harry, as the second child of the heir to the throne (and now King) Charles, always knew that he was the "spare" prince, the other child who was there "just in case", in case something happened to the eldest Prince William.
He writes in his book that the family called the brothers The Heir and the Spare - the heir to the throne and the extra, "not in a judgmental way, but also not in a way that implies two sides. I was the shadow, the support, plan B."
The relationship between the brothers, who always seemed so close, is revealed in the book and interviews as something much more complex.
His love/disappointment relationships with everyone in his family, including his late queen grandmother, his loving but cold father, and his much-loved older brother - all of these, and almost every other facet that ever interested you in the prince's life, come up for discussion following the autobiography
More in Walla!
Prince Harry continues to mock the royal family: watch his skit with Stephen Colbert and Tom Hanks
To the full article
Everything is calculated.
From the series "Harry and Meghan" (Photo: Netflix)
Yes, Harry wants us to understand him, who seems to be a human being like the rest of us - screwed up and vulnerable and carrying childhood trauma, and trying to be the best he can be for himself, his wife and his children.
He writes candidly and with touching sensitivity about his childhood, the loss of his mother and the way he tried to deal with this trauma in his youth.
But alongside all this, he did not hesitate to spill every detail and every secret that could embarrass his family - his years of depression, his rebellious adolescence when he turned to parties, alcohol and drugs, difficult stories about fights with his relatives, direct criticism of his father's wife, Camilla, and even how he lost your virginity
Why does he do that?
Why write such a revealing book, while you repeatedly ask that you and your family's privacy be respected?
So as mentioned - this is a war.
This book, and the documentary series that preceded it and in a well thought out way paved the way for him, is Harry's way of regaining control over the narrative of his life.
To this day, he says, for 38 years, you have only ever heard one side of the story - the lie that the British media sold you.
Now it's time to hear the real story, not from "informed sources" or "closers to the palace" or "experts in the affairs of the royal family", but from the mouth of Athens.
The royal family has a well-known cooperation agreement with the press that covers it, so it is clear to everyone that all those anonymous sources are none other than the family members themselves.
The prince famously lost his mother Princess Diana in a car accident caused by fleeing paparazzi squads, grew up with this trauma and watched the royal family's twisted relationship with the British gossip industry.
After watching his new wife brutally hounded by reporters, to the point of risking her life, he decided that he would be the one to change this sick culture in Britain.
Harry and Meghan thought that if they removed themselves from palace life, left Britain, and simply would not be in front of the eyes of the cameras, it would appease those who persecuted them.
It didn't help, so they stopped running and started attacking.
Prince Harry - the interview (photo: courtesy of yes)
In an interview with Bradby, he talks about how his relatives did not stand by him and his family when the yellow press persecuted them mercilessly and published lies about them.
He says he sought help from family, not an institution.
"I wanted a family. And I understand why it's hard for them to separate the two, but for me, with everything I've experienced and witnessed over the years, there must be a separation."
The longing for the family hug is one of the recurring themes in his narrative, a need that can evoke empathy in all of us.
This is what Harry asks of us - to listen to his story without prejudice, simply as a story about feelings and relationships, not about palaces and crowns.
This is a person who was born into the flashes of the cameras, and he knows very well how to be interviewed and how to adapt himself to the target audience of the interview.
He passes a camera and always seems likeable, talks to the point, his body language conveys honesty and openness.
He's straight and serious on Anderson Cooper's 60 Minutes, witty and silly on Stephen Colbert.
Harry knows exactly how to answer tough questions, because he has two simple messages: he loves his family and hates the British media.
The interviewers who will try to catch him with all kinds of difficult statements, will come across different versions of this message again and again.
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Although he is always a voice, it is in the American interviews that Harry really flourishes.
After all, inevitably, every British interviewer who meets with him is part of the group against which the prince comes out, the British press.
And of course, America pretty much welcomed him with open arms, and for them the cordiality and friendliness he exudes do not go against years of opaque English restraint that is expected of the British royal family.
Magnifies to do Stephen Colbert, who at the beginning of the interview pours tequila to the prince.
Surprisingly, and maybe not at all, the interview with Colbert is the best and most in-depth of the three.
Although the atmosphere sometimes becomes silly, Colbert is smart and empathetic enough to bring complex and penetrating questions, and they talk both about the "scandalous" anecdotes in the book, and about other matters of the soul.
They move from a conversation about trauma and recovery, treatment and mental health, to the cringe story about a trip to Antarctica where the prince's private parts froze.
In this interview you will also find out the answer to the most interesting question - do Meghan and Harry watch the series "The Crown".
Prince Harry is lucky that his goal is not to change public opinion towards him, because it probably won't happen.
Those who love him and Meghan Markle, will continue to love and support.
Those who come to hate them, will continue to think that they are spoiled and chasing publicity.
But what he is doing now is breaking all the tools and breaking all the rules of the abusive relationship between the British media and the royal family - and there is a great chance that his actions, for which he is going to pay a high price, will definitely have the power to make the change he seeks.
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