LONDON – The Duke of Sussex has said his “conscience is clear” following his revealing memoir Spare, and that he did not air his “dirty linen in public.” Prince Harry and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, stepped back from official royal duties in 2020, and also spoke publicly about difficulties with family relationships to US talk show host Oprah Winfrey the following year. Speaking to the Guardian while on a trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, he said: “I don’t believe that I aired my dirty laundry in public. It was a difficult message, but I did it in the best way possible. My conscience is clear.” His comments came just days after a short meeting with his father, King Charles, their first meeting in over a year. It was the first time the pair had met since February 2024. The prince, who also appeared with his wife in the 2022 Netflix series Harry and Meghan, also spoke about his upcoming legal case against the Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers, at the High Court in London.
He is suing them over allegations of phone-hacking and other unlawful information gathering along with Sir Elton John, Baroness Lawrence and other public figures.
Associated Newspapers has denied claims that it hacked phones, calling them “preposterous smears”.
“It is not about revenge, it is about accountability,” said the Prince, who now lives in the US but returned to the UK last week to attend a series of events related to causes he supports.
Underlining his “love” for the UK, he suggested he would like to return home to see his family more often.
He added that for the coming year, “the focus really has to be on my dad.”
The aim of Prince Harry’s visit to the Ukrainian capital was to promote the work of his Invictus Games Foundation and to celebrate the recovery and rehabilitation of thousands of veterans who have suffered life-changing injuries since the war with Russia began three years ago.
“Nobody should feel embarrassed or ashamed about their disabilities,” he said. “It’s about flipping from sympathy to admiration and respect.”
After having laid a wreath in memory of the dead, he described the conflict as “all so unnecessary.”
His work for Invictus, he said, had helped to give him a renewed “purpose” after his military career ended, adding that it “saved me”.
He spoke to the British newspaper about the cost of war and how he boxes to relieve stress – punching a punch bag – as well as his portrayal in the media.
He stressed that while he felt he had been “destroyed by certain members of the British press”, he also still felt a lot of love from the British public.
In January, the publisher of the Sun newspaper agreed to pay “substantial damages” and apologised to him settle a long-running legal battle over claims of unlawful intrusion into his life.
He told The Guardian some events of the last four years have been “very stressful” and he had been “finding out certain things that have really, really hurt.”
