Prince Harry says Britain's royal household regularly leak stories about each other, calling it "a dirty game" in a new trailer for the much-anticipated Netflix documentary series about him and his wife Meghan.
The first three episodes of the series will be available on Thursday, the streaming service said, amid widespread speculation over what the couple, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will say about the other royals.
Since Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal duties two years ago and moved to California they have delivered stinging criticism of the British monarchy and accusations of racism - accusations that the family has dismissed.
The 38-year-old prince has suggested in interviews he is now barely on speaking terms with the rest of the family - most notably with his father King Charles III and elder brother Prince William, the heir to the throne.
"No one knows the full truth," Harry says in the trailer. "We know the full truth."
In the short clip, Harry referred to people working for the royal households briefing journalists about each other, an issue he has previously talked about.
"There's a hierarchy of the family. You know there's leaking, but there's also planting of stories," he says. "It's a dirty game."
'Feeding frenzy'
A voice on the trailer, which appears to be Harry's, also refers to the "pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution" while showing images of Harry's late mother Diana and his sister-in-law Catherine, calling it "this feeding frenzy".
The last time Harry and Meghan (41) opened up about their relationship with the other royals, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, it plunged the institution into one of its biggest crises of recent times.
After the Winfrey interview, Buckingham Palace promised to address seriously the issues they raised while pointedly remarking that "some recollections may vary".
William also said a few days later: "We're very much not a racist family."
Many of Britain's Sunday newspapers led with stories about the Netflix series, with some unnamed sources accusing the couple of declaring war on the Windsors.
The first trailer's release last week coincided with William and Catherine (both aged 40), the Prince and Princess of Wales' first trip to the United States for eight years.
The visit was also overshadowed by a race row involving William's 83-year-old godmother which saw her stepping down from her honorary role in the royal household.
The royals will now be bracing for further revelations from Harry and Meghan when the series airs this week.
"It's really hard to look back on it now and go 'what on earth happened?'" Harry says in the trailer, in an apparent reference to his and Meghan's experience in the royal family.
Libel case paused
Meanwhile, Harry and Associated Newspapers, one of Britain’s biggest media publishers, have agreed a temporary pause in his libel claim to try to settle the case, London’s High Court heard on Tuesday.
The Duke of Sussex sued the publisher in February over an article in the Mail on Sunday newspaper which alleged he tried to keep secret details of his legal fight with Britain’s interior ministry to reinstate his police protection.
Harry says the Mail on Sunday published an "unremittingly negative" article about his ongoing case against the Home Office. The High Court ruled it was defamatory in July.
Associated Newspapers, however, argues that the article contains "an expression of opinion" about Harry’s public statements on his legal case over police protection and is defending the libel lawsuit.
The case returned to court for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday at which Harry’s lawyer Jane Phillips said the parties have agreed to put the case on hold until mid-January in order to try and negotiate a settlement "if that is indeed possible".
Associated Newspapers applied for Harry to provide further information about a meeting at the royal Sandringham estate in January 2020, when he says he made an offer to pay for or contribute to police protection.
Judge Barbara Fontaine ruled that Harry’s lawyers should provide "clarification" about the offer he says he made, which she added would “assist the parties ... in the attempts about [a] settlement, which I hope are successful”.
