Prince Harry’s latest interview is part of a "national soap opera,” a royal expert said after the Duke of Sussex appeared in an ITV documentary – Tabloids on Trial. In the show, Harry opened up about his battle with the British press.
Harry said in the interview that the media played a part in the royal rift in his family. He also said that he viewed the battle as a “service.”
Royal commentator Richard Palmer said, while speaking about the family's "service,” "They have an important constitutional role, but also it's a bit of a national soap opera.”
"And so they've all had their times when they've been the person out of favour, the person who the public thinks is not the popular one,” Palmer said. "So they were all sympathetic up to a point, but they didn't see the sense in picking a fight with national newspapers, with the media in general.”
"The Royal Family needs the media as much as the media needs the Royal Family,” the expert added.
Palmer said that as opposed to Harry, when it comes to Prince William’s approach to the media, he "controls the narrative.” "There is a difference between William and Harry. But William I think is quite, controlling,” Palmer said. "He wants to control the narrative when he deals with the media, he can be quite aggressive but he just does it in a would say a more sophisticated way than Harry has done."
‘It is certainly a central piece to it’
{{/usCountry}}Palmer said that as opposed to Harry, when it comes to Prince William’s approach to the media, he "controls the narrative.” "There is a difference between William and Harry. But William I think is quite, controlling,” Palmer said. "He wants to control the narrative when he deals with the media, he can be quite aggressive but he just does it in a would say a more sophisticated way than Harry has done."
‘It is certainly a central piece to it’
{{/usCountry}}Harry said in the interview that his decision to fight the tabloids is a "central piece" to his fight with his family. Journalist Becca Barry asked the Duke, “To what extent do you think your determination to fight the tabloids destroyed your relationship with your family?"
"It is certainly a central piece to it,” Harry replied. "It is a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press.”
He added, "I have made it very clear that this is something that needs to be done. It would be nice if we did it as a family, I believe from a service standpoint and when you are in a public role these are the things we should be doing for the greater good. I am doing this for my reasons."