Harry interviews LIVE: Duke of Sussex tells Good Morning America divide between him and royal family ‘couldn’t be greater’

The royal family has faced yet more accusations from Prince Harry after the Duke of Sussex’s latest interview publicising his memoir Spare aired on Monday.

In the interview, which went out ABC News’s Good Morning America on Monday afternoon, the Duke of Sussex also said the divide between him and his family “couldn’t be greater”.

Asked about whether he thinks his book will bring his father and brother back to him or whether it will widen the divide, the duke said: “I thought about it long and hard, and as far as I see it the divide couldn’t be greater before this book.”

Harry said that if reconciliation does not happen, he will focus on his life and family.

“I’m not angry any more. There are things that will still anger me, but I’m not angry any more, because I am exactly where I am supposed to be,” he said.

Harry also claimed the Queen Consort “sacrificed me on her personal PR altar”.

He attacked what he alleged was Camilla’s attempts to “rehabilitate” her image, after being cast as the “third person” in his parents’ marriage, but also sympathised with her, saying in the interview with Michael Strahan that she is not an “evil stepmother”.

It was the third of four interviews carried out with Harry going out this week to mark the official release his book on Tuesday.

In Sunday night’s interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby, the duke attacked close members of the royal family for “getting into bed with the devil” in forging relationships with the tabloid press “to rehabilitate their image”.

He also criticised “family members” for a “really horrible reaction” on the day the Queen died with claims of “briefings”, “leakings” and “planting”.

But the most controversial comment appears to have been his denial that he accused the royal family of racism in his Oprah interview.

In a second interview that went out overnight, Harry told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that Camilla had been cast as the “villain” and claimed a need for her to “rehabilitate her image” made her “dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press”.

Prince Harry’s latest US interview due to begin shortly

11:27 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Good morning, and welcome to the Standard’s live blog.

We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates from Prince Harry’s latest interview, which is due to air on US channel ABC’s Good Morning America (GMA) at midday in the UK.

Follow along for all the latest updates.

Key moments from last night’s interview

11:56 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Prince Harry’s Good Morning America interview with Michael Strahan will come hot on the heels of two other TV interviews he has given in the lead-up to his memoir’s publication.

The first came last night, when the Duke sat down with interviewer Tom Bradby on ITV.

For a full wrap of the key moments, click here.

Series of allegations made in CBS interview

12:03 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Following last night’s interview on ITV, a second interview aired on CBS show 60 Minutes on Monday, in which Harry risked deepening his rift with his father by describing Camilla as “the villain” and “dangerous”.

The duke made a series of claims about the Queen Consort, as he told US interviewer Anderson Cooper: “She was the villain, she was a third person in the marriage, she needed to rehabilitate her image.”

For a summary of all the biggest revelations made in the US interview, click here.

Prince Harry’s popularity drops to all-time low, according to poll

12:20 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

As the Duke of Sussex’s interview with Good Morning America is due to air, his popularity has sunk to a record low, according to a new poll.

Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of Britons have a negative view of Harry, up from 58 per cent in May, with just a quarter (26 per cent) seeing him in a positive light, according to the YouGov survey.

The results come after a number of claims about the royal family in his upcoming book Spare, due out on Tuesday, have sparked a furore.

Harry‘s net favourability among the British public is at an all-time low of minus 38, with his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, recording minus 42.

His net favourability score among 2019 Labour voters is minus seven, while among 18-24-year-olds, the proportion of positive and negative views of him was equal (41 per cent).

Meghan still has a positive net favourability score of 10 among 18-24-year-olds, but this has dropped from 55 in 2017.

Peace with my family is impossible unless the truth comes out, says Harry

12:42 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Prince Harry’s interview with GMA co-anchor Michael Strahan has begun in the US, with the Duek telling that he was prompted to speak out by his desire for “reconciliation”.

“Ultimately I don’t think we can ever have peace with my family unless the truth is out there,” he tells the interviewer.

“If we can get to the point of reconciliation, that will have a ripple effect across the world.

“I genuinely believe that, and that’s kind of what is pushing me. And if that doesn’t happen, then that’s very sad.”

Harry says he has ‘huge amount of compassion’ for Camilla, but ‘draws a line’

12:51 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Prince Harry says he has a “huge amount of compassion” for Camilla, the Queen Consort, but “draws a line” at her alleged previous behaviour.

The Duke of Sussex reportedly writes in Spare that ahead of his father’s marriage to Camilla, he “had complex feelings about gaining a stepparent, who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar”.

Speaking to GMA’s Michael Strahan in this morning’s interview, he expanded on this as he said: “I have a huge amount of compassion for [Camilla], you know, being the third person within my parents’ marriage.

“She had a reputation or an image to rehabilitate.

“Whatever conversations happened, whatever deals or trading was made right at the beginning, she was led to believe that that would be the best way to do it.

“And I don’t have a problem with any member of my family needing to rehabilitate their image, but if that rehabilitation or that relationship with, in this case, the British tabloids, comes at the cost of my girlfriend or my family -- my close family or my larger family -- then I draw a line at that.”

‘I don’t look at her as an evil stepmother’, says Prince Harry on Camilla

13:00 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Asked about what his relationship with Camilla is like now, Harry said: “We haven’t spoken for a long time. I love every member of my family, despite the differences, so when I see her we’re perfectly pleasant with each other.

“She’s my stepmother. I don’t look at her as an evil stepmother. I see someone who married into this institution and has done everything that she can to improve her own reputation and her own image for her own sake.”

It comes after The Sun, which has seen a Spanish version of the Duke’s memoir Spare, reported that Harry claims in one extract that he once feared his father’s second wife would become his “wicked stepmother”.

Harry ‘had a very good relationship’ with Queen despite stepping back from royal family

13:03 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The Duke of Sussex has insisted his grandmother the late Queen was not angry or upset with him about wanting to step down as a senior working royal.

Interviewer Michael Strahan asked him on Good Morning America: “Did she ever express that she was upset at you?”

Harry responds: “For what?”

Strahan replies: “For wanting to change your role.”

Harry says: “No. My grandmother and I had a very good relationship. It was never a surprise to anybody, least of all her.

“She knew what was going on. She knew how hard it was. She never said to me that she was angry. I think she was sad that it got to that point.”

Harry admits playing a role in breakdown of relationship with Prince William

13:05 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The Duke of Sussex said he has to take responsibility for his role in the breakdown of the relationship with his brother the Prince of Wales.

Asked on Good Morning America if he thinks he has any responsibility in the breakdown of the relationship, Harry replied: “Without question. Sure.

“But what people don’t know is the efforts that I’ve gone to to resolve this privately, both with my brother and with my father.”

Harry: The media pitched Kate against Meghan

13:12 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Prince Harry has accused the media of having helped drive a rift between him and his brother William, and between their two wives.

“There has always been this competition between us, weirdly,” he told GMA. “Again, I think it really plays into, or is played by the ‘heir, spare’ and the press is a part of that.

“They pitch the Waleses, which Kate and William are now, against the Sussexes, me and my wife,” he added.

“They always pitched us against each other. They pitch Kate and Meghan against each other.”

Asked if he thought this then made the two women “go against each other”, he said yes “without question”.

Duke says he ‘can’t ever get out’ of royal family

13:14 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The Duke of Sussex has told Good Morning America he “can’t ever get out” of the royal family.

He said there had been no compromise over his half-in half-out hybrid plan to move to Canada but also still serve the Queen during the so-called ‘Megxit’ crisis in 2020.

Interviewer Michael Strahan asked: “There was no compromise with the family?”

Harry replied: “No – which was really sad because I still to this day believe that this was entirely possible.”

Mr Strahan asked: “There are going to be people who say ‘Why don’t they either be in or get out, because if you get out there’s no hypocrisy’.”

Harry said: “I can’t ever get out and I’m incredibly aware of my position.

“I’m incredibly grateful for the life that I’ve had and continue to live.

“But there’s no version of me being ever able to get out of this. I was stunned that my family would allow security to be taken away, especially at the most vulnerable point for us.”

Harry: ‘I accept that writing a book is feeding the beast'

13:16 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Asked about critics who say he has sold out his family by penning his memoir Spare, Prince Harry says the only way he could protect his family was to correct mistruths by writing the truth in one place.

“I fully accept that writing a book is feeding the beast anyway,” he added, during his Good Morning America interview.

Harry says Diana would be ‘heartbroken’ by his relationship with Prince William

13:26 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Prince Harry says his mother the late Diana, Princess of Wales, would be “heartbroken” by the breakdown of his relationship with his older brother.

”I think she would be sad,” he told Good Morning America.

“I think she’d be looking at it long-term, to know there are certain things we need to go through to heal that relationship.

“I think she’d be heartbroken that it’s ended up where it’s ended up.

“I think she’d be heartbroken about the fact William, his office, were part of these stories. And William and I made a pact, made a deal that no matter what we would never let our offices fight against each other.”

Asked by interview Michael Strahan is he feels William broke that pact, Prince Harry repleid: “The people he employed broke that pact.”

Harry: I don’t think it’s ever going to be possible to return as working royal

13:40 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Asked by interviewer Michael Strahan whether he can see his family someday returning to the UK as working royals, Prince Harry said: “I don’t think it’s ever going to be possible.”

“Even if there was an agreement or an arrangement with me and my family, there is that third party that is going to do everything they can to make sure that that isn’t possible,” he added.

“Not stopping us from actually going back, but making it unsurvivable.

“And that’s really sad, because that is essentially breaking the relationship between us.

“If there is something in the future where we can continue to support the Commonwealth then that’s, of course, on the table.”

Royal family has a place in the modern world but only if it changes, says Harry

13:43 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The Duke of Sussex says he “genuinely believe[s]” there is a place for the monarchy in the 21st century if it addresses unconscious bias.

Asked if the royal family needs to modernise and if so in what way, he said: “I think the same process that I went through with regarding my own unconscious bias would be hugely beneficial to them.

“Not racism, but unconscious bias. If not confronted, if not learned and grown from, that can then move into racism.

“But there was an enormous missed opportunity with my wife.”

During the interview, Harry also said: “I think my mother would have realised the missed opportunity with Meghan being part of the institution, part of the monarchy.”

Harry says rift in royal family ‘couldn’t be greater’ even before memoir

13:50 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Asked whether he thinks his memoir Spare will help bring his father and brother back to him or widen the divide, Harry told GMA: “I thought about it long and hard, and as far as I see it the divide couldn’t be greater before this book.”

He added that if reconciliation does not happen, he will focus on his life and family.

“I’m not angry any more. There are things that will still anger me, but I’m not angry any more, because I am exactly where I am supposed to be,” he said.

During the interview, Harry said he was “born into service”, adding: “It runs in my blood.”

Queen ‘knew how hard it was’ for me but was not angry over Megxit - Harry

14:20 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

During his GMA interview, the Duke of Sussex insisted his grandmother the late Queen was not angry or upset with him for wanting to step down as a senior working royal.

He added that the monarch “knew how hard” it was for him, but was sad at how things turned out.

Asked by interview Michael Strahan whether the Queen ever expressed upset at his decision to change his role, the Duke said: “No. My grandmother and I had a very good relationship. It was never a surprise to anybody, least of all her.”

Read more on what Harry said about his relationship with his late grandmother here.

Huge numbers tuned into Harry’s ITV interview...but more watched Happy Valley

14:23 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

More viewers watched BBC’s Happy Valley than tuned into the much-anticipated interview with the Duke of Sussex on ITV last night, according to overnight figures.

Harry: The Interview drew an average TV audience of 4.1 million.

ITV said the 90-minute programme, in which Harry was interviewed by Tom Bradby, achieved the channel’s highest rating for a factual programme for more than a year.

But he second episode of series three of BBC One’s Happy Valley, which started at the same time – 9pm on Sunday – and lasted an hour, had an average audience of 5.3 million TV viewers, according to the overnight figures.

The crime drama, which was written and created by Sally Wainwright and stars Sarah Lancashire as Sergeant Catherine Cawood, returned on New Year’s Day for its final series after last being broadcast in 2016.

WATCH: ‘I don’t think we can have peace with my family unless the truth is out there’, says Harry

15:58 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

21:04 , Matt Watts

That ends our coverage for today.