A royal commentator has described Prince Harry as acting like “an avenging angel” after he addressed his conflict with the British press in a new ITV documentary.
In the ITV program Tabloids on Trial, the Duke of Sussex discussed his ongoing battle against the British tabloids.
During the documentary, Harry also spoke about his mother, stating: “There’s evidence to suggest she was being hacked in the mid-90s. She was probably one of the first individuals targeted.”
He continued to tell ITV: “And yet still today the press, the tabloid press, very much enjoy painting her as being paranoid but she wasn’t paranoid. She was absolutely right about what was happening to her. And she’s not around today to find out the truth.”
In December, Prince Harry won a substantial part of his case against Uks tabloid.
A high court judge awarded him £140,600 in damages after ruling that Harry’s phone was hacked “to a modest extent” from the end of 2003 to April 2009.
Speaking to GB News, a former royal reporter for The Sun, Charles Rae, blasted Harry’s comments in the interview.
He said: “I think he’s being a bit disingenuous. I understand he’s got a complaint against the tabloids.
“I understand that, and I have to say, I think that phone hacking was one of the most despicable things that ever happened in our industry, an industry that I worked in happily for 50 odd years.
“And so it’s right that he takes action that he wants. But let’s not run away with the fact that he’s some sort of avenging angel, trying to win for the greater good and everything else, which is a load of old rubbish.”
In the interview, Harry also said: “I don’t think there’s anybody else in the world that is better suited and placed to be able to see this through than myself” and claimed that the tabloids had contributed towards the rift in the Royal Family.
He said that he viewed the battle against the press as a “service” and “something needs to be done.”
Journalist Becca Barry asked the royal: “To what extent do you think your determination to fight the tabloids destroyed your relationship with your family?”
Prince Harry replied: “It is certainly a central piece to it. It is a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press.
“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.”
