Prince Harry Called Claims He Wanted to Teach the "Brits a Lesson" a "Baseless Hit Piece"

This is... a lot.

Prince Harry
(Image credit: Getty)

Prince Harry has given The Sun a piece of his mind.

The publication recently claimed that the Duke of Sussex had told a friend ahead of his and Meghan Markle's Oprah interview, "This is going to be quite shocking. Those Brits need to learn a lesson."

The tabloid ran the story on the front page, and Harry wasted no time in debunking the claims, which his team called "baseless."

"This is a baseless hit piece masquerading as journalism," a spokesperson for the Sussexes responded, as shared by royal expert Omid Scobie on Twitter.

"This story is riddled with inaccuracies, not least of which is a quote erroneously attributed to Prince Harry.

"To accuse a man who spent 10 years serving his country of wanting to teach that same country a lesson is not only an attempted distraction but an unfortunate and predictable tabloid strategy.

"To pit him against his country is shameful and manipulative, especially when Prince Harry has never spoken ill of the British public."

The Sussexes have historically not shied away from expressing exactly how they feel about the British tabloids. Both spouses have been embroiled in a number of lawsuits against the Daily Mail over the years, with both of them achieving certain wins against the newspaper.

When the duchess won her high-profile court case against the Mail in late 2021, she said in a statement, "Today, the courts ruled in my favor—again—cementing that The Mail on Sunday, owned by Lord Jonathan Rothermere, has broken the law.

"The courts have held the defendant to account, and my hope is that we all begin to do the same.

"Because as far removed as it may seem from your personal life, it's not. Tomorrow it could be you.

"These harmful practices don't happen once in a blue moon—they are a daily fail that divide us, and we all deserve better."

Iris Goldsztajn
Morning Editor

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.