Harry accuses Prince William of screaming at him, his aides of leaking stories

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Prince Harry and his wife Meghan piled fresh criticism on the British royals in new episodes of their documentary series released on Thursday, accusing his elder brother Prince William of screaming at him during a summit to discuss his future.

In the final three episodes of the Netflix series, Harry also said aides for William, now heir to the throne, had been complicit in negative stories appearing about the couple in the media and blamed the press for Meghan having a miscarriage.

“It is a dirty game. There’s leaking but there’s also planting of stories,” said Harry. “So if the comms (communications) team want to be able to remove a negative story about their principal, they will trade and give you something about someone else’s principal.”

He and William had seen what had happened with the office of their father King Charles, whose first marriage to their mother Princess Diana broke down in the full glare of the media amid counter-briefings from both parties, and agreed never to repeat it, Harry said.

“I would far rather get destroyed in the press than play along with this game, or this business of trading,” Harry said. “To see my brother’s office copy the very same thing that we promised the two of us would never ever do, that was heartbreaking.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as Harry and Meghan are officially known, stepped down from royal duties in March 2020, saying they wanted to forge new lives in the United States away from media harassment.

He recounted details of a crisis summit held at the Sandringham estate two months earlier he attended along with the late Queen Elizabeth, Charles, and William.

“It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that just simply weren’t true, and my grandmother quietly sit there and sort of take it all in,” he said.

Both Buckingham Palace and William’s office, Kensington Palace, have said they would not be commenting on the documentaries.

A royal source also said neither the palace nor representatives of William or other royals had been approached for comment for the series itself, contradicting a Netflix statement that said they had declined to comment.

The episodes were released just hours before Charles, his wife Camilla, William and his wife Kate, along with other royals, attend a carol service at London’s Westminster Abbey, which will also be dedicated to the late queen whose funeral was held there in September.