Prince Harry "Bashing" His Family Won't "Repair Broken Relationships

(Image credit: Getty)

published 8 March 2023

Prince Harry spoke to Dr. Gabor Maté over the weekend, and focused much more on his personal hardships than he did on his troubles with the Royal Family.

For many royal commentators, this was a welcome change of pace after the many explosive revelations the Duke of Sussex made about King Charles and Prince William especially, in his memoir Spare and in his Netflix docuseries with Meghan Markle.

"The latest interview by Prince Harry has a markedly different tone," royal historian Mok O'Keeffe (AKA @gayaristo) tells Marie Claire.

"Gone are the criticisms of his family and the story has now turned towards his own journey and recovery from trauma. Is this the result of PR advice or a natural evolution? I welcome this change of direction."

For O'Keeffe, there's an imbalance between what Prince Harry can say publicly now that he's no longer a working royal, and what senior royals can actually get away with saying.

"The members of the Royal Family that Prince Harry has chosen to criticize to date have no real right of reply, and continuing to bash them in public can do nothing to repair broken relationships," the expert says.

"I think that this new narrative from Harry shows some recognition that he only has the right to talk about his lived experiences, and his journey. I hope that this less antagonistic approach will see him attend The King’s coronation in May."

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams is somewhat aligned with O'Keeffe with regards to the Gabor Maté interview.

"I don't thing this will change things," Fitzwilliams previously told the Daily Mail.

"Things are bad, there is a serious rift. The best that can be said is that this didn't make things worse."

The expert added, "There was no direct attack on the monarch and there was also, although it was all in the background—the past he was escaping from—there was no direct attack at all on any member of the Royal Family.

"I think there will be a lot of relief and thanks."

Meanwhile, the Sussexes have confirmed that they were invited to the coronation, though they refused to say whether or not they would attend. Sigh.

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.