Prince Harry has said his decision to fight the tabloid press has been a “central piece” in the deterioration of his relationship with his family.
The Duke of Sussex won a privacy case against Mirror Group newspapers in December last year after a judge ruled his phone had been hacked by the Daily Mirror.
Harry became the first British royal in 130 years to give evidence in court after bringing the privacy case.
It is understood his decision was not supported by other members of the Royal Family.
Months before Harry won the privacy case, it emerged his brother Prince William had settled a phone-hacking claim against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers in 2020 for a “very large sum”.
Speaking to an ITV documentary due to be aired on Thursday, Harry was asked whether his determination to fight the tabloid press had contributed to a widely reported rift within the Royal Family.
He replied: “Yeah, that’s certainly a central piece to it. But, you know, that’s a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press.
“I’ve made it very clear that this is something that needs to be done. It would be nice if we, you know, did it as a family. I believe that, again, from a service standpoint and when you are in a public role, that these are the things that we should be doing for the greater good. But, you know, I’m doing this for my reasons.”
When asked what he thinks of the decision by his family not to take on the press in the way he has, the duke replies: “I think everything that’s played out has shown people what the truth of the matter is. For me, the mission continues, but it has, it has, yes. It’s caused, yeah, as you say, part of a rift.”