Prince Harry struck a combative tone as he testified Wednesday in his lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail and insisted that his latest legal battle with Associated Newspaper Ltd. was “in the public interest.”
Harry and six other prominent figures, including Elton John and actor Elizabeth Hurley, allege that the publisher invaded their privacy by engaging in a “clear, systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering” for two decades, attorney David Sherborne said. The celebrities allege that the company illegally spied on them by hiring private investigators to hack their phones, bug their cars and access private records. Testimony from several private investigators, who have said they worked on behalf of Associated Newspapers, is set to be used in the trial.
Associated Newspapers Ltd. has denied the allegations, called them preposterous and said the roughly 50 articles in question were reported with legitimate sources that included close associates willing to inform on their famous friends.
Harry said in his 23-page witness statement that he was distressed and disturbed by the intrusion into his early life by the Mail and its sister publication the Mail on Sunday, and that it made him “paranoid beyond belief.” Harry also alleged that the lives of “thousands of people” were “invaded” by Associated “because of greed.”
“There is obviously a personal element to bringing this claim, motivated by truth, justice and accountability, but it is not just about me,” Harry said in a written statement unveiled as he entered the witness box. Under the English civil court system, witnesses present written testimony, and after asserting that it’s the truth are immediately put under cross examination. “I am determined to hold Associated accountable, for everyone’s sake … I believe it is in the public interest.”
Britain’s Prince Harry gives evidence in his privacy lawsuit against the publisher of The Daily Mail, at the High Court in London, January 21, 2026, in this courtroom sketch.
Julia Quenzler / REUTERS
A heated cross examination
Harry, dressed in a dark suit, held a small Bible in his right hand in London’s High Court and swore to “almighty God that the evidence I shall give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” After the Duke of Sussex said he preferred to be called Prince Harry, he acknowledged that his 23-page statement was authentic and accurate.
Defense lawyer Antony White, in a calm and gentle tone, began to put questions to Harry to determine if the sourcing of the articles, in fact, had come from royal correspondents working their sources at official events or from friends or associates of the prince. Harry said that his “social circles were not leaky” and disputed suggestions that he had been cozy with journalists who covered the royal family.
Harry suggested that information had come from eavesdropping on his phone calls or having private investigators snoop on him. He said journalist Katie Nicholl had the luxury to use the term “unidentified source” deceptively to hide unlawful measures of investigation.
“If you complain, they double down on you in my experience,” he said in explaining why he had not objected to the articles at the time.
As a soft-spoken Harry became increasingly defensive, White said: “I am intent on you not having a bad experience with me, but it is my job to ask you these questions.”
Eventually, Justice Matthew Nicklin intervened in the tense back-and-forth and told Harry not to argue with the defense lawyer as he tried to explain what it’s like living under what he called “24-hour surveillance.” Nicklin also reminded Harry that he does not “have to bear the burden of arguing the case today.”
At another point in his cross examination, Harry appeared close to tears as he said tabloids had made his wife Meghan’s life “an absolute misery.” Harry has previously said persistent press attacks led to the couple’s decision to leave royal life and move to the U.S. in 2020.
Harry’s media crusade
For decades, Harry has had what he called an “uneasy” relationship with the media, but kept mum and followed the family protocol of “never complain, never explain,” he said.
The litigation is part of Harry’s self-proclaimed mission to reform the media that he blames for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi in Paris.
He said “vicious persistent attacks,” harassment and event racists articles about Meghan, who is biracial, had inspired him to break from family tradition to finally sue the press.
Britain’s Prince Harry arrives at London’s High Court in London on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.
Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
It is Harry’s second time testifying after he bucked House of Windsor tradition and became the first senior royal to testify in a court in well over a century when he took the stand in a similar, successful lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mirror in 2023.
Last year, on the eve of another scheduled trial, Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. tabloid publisher NGN agreed to pay Harry “substantial damages” for privacy breaches, including phone hacking.
This trial is expected to last nine weeks and a written verdict could come months later.
“If Harry wins this case, it will give him a feeling … that he wasn’t being paranoid all the time,” Royah Nikkhah, royal editor for The Sunday Times and a CBS News contributor, told CBS News on Monday. “If Harry loses this case, it’s huge jeopardy for him, not just in terms of cost, but in terms of pushing all the way to trial and not seeking to settle. So we have to wait and see, but it’s high stakes for Harry.”
Harry is among the high-profile claimants, along with Sir Elton John and actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, who have accused the Associated Newspapers group of “unlawful information gathering.”
The 41-year-old royal, who lives in California, and his fellow celebrities claim the company, which publishes the Daily Mail and the linked MailOnline website, illegally snooped on them by hiring private investigators to hack their phones, bug their cars and access private records to generate scoops.
The publisher has denied all of the accusations, calling them “preposterous smears” and part of a coordinated effort driven by the claimants’ personal dislike of the news media.
In a witness submission seen by CBS News, Harry said it was, “disturbing to feel that my every move, thought or feeling was being tracked and monitored just for the Mail to make money out of it,” adding that the “terrifying” intrusion made him, “paranoid beyond belief, isolating me.”
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, arrives at The Royal Courts of Justice for the first day of a court case against Associated Newspapers Ltd, Jan. 19, 2026, in London, England.
Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty
Harry, the Duke of Sussex, whose case is based on 14 separate newspaper stories, says the alleged illegal information gathering between 1993 and 2011 put a “massive strain” on his personal relationships. He has long blamed the media for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in 1997 as her vehicle was pursued by photographers on motorcycles.
He listened in court Monday as his lawyer argued that there was, “clear, systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering at both the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday.”
Testimony from several private investigators, who have said they worked on behalf of Associated Newspapers, will be used in the trial. CBS News’ partner network BBC news reported Monday that Harry was expected to take the stand himself to offer evidence.
During his first legal battle with the press, in 2019, against the owners of The Mirror for hacking his phone, Harry became the first senior member of the royal family to give in-person testimony in a British court in more than 130 years. Courts ruled in his favor multiple times in that case.
“The journalists who used me and the editors who sanctioned this knew full well that I was a practitioner of the ‘Dark Arts,’” private investigator Steve Whittamore said in a witness statement ahead of the trial that began Monday. “If the information the journalists requested could have been acquired legitimately … then the newspapers would have had no need to use my particular services.”
Another witness, known as “Detective Danno,” claims to have been paid the equivalent of more than $1 million by the Mail for over 20 years of work for the paper.
The publisher has argued that evidence from private detectives can’t be trusted.
Royah Nikkhah, royal editor for The Sunday Times and a CBS News contributor, said Monday that Prince William appeared to be “full of confidence” about his case, but “he’s not really relishing the prospect of being in court all week.”
Last year, Rupert Murdoch’s right-leaning News Group Newspapers settled out of court with the royal, offering a full formal apology for “serious intrusion” and a multi-million dollar payout.
The case against Associated Newspapers is expected to last nine weeks, culminating with a decision by Judge Matthew Nicklin, whose verdict will determine not only the lasting reputation of a major media company, but also who foots the bill for tens of millions of dollars in legal costs.
“If Harry wins this case, it will give him a feeling … that he wasn’t being paranoid all the time,” Nikkhah told CBS News. “If Harry loses this case, it’s huge jeopardy for him, not just in terms of cost, but in terms of pushing all the way to trial and not seeking to settle. So we have to wait and see, but it’s high stakes for Harry.”
London — Prince Harry made a rare trip back to the United Kingdom this week, and while most of the visit was filled with public events at charities the Duke of Sussex supports, he also met with his father, King Charles III, for the first time since February 2024.
Harry has said previously that he wants to rebuild his relationship with his family, which has been strained since he and his wife Meghan formally stepped down from their roles as working royals and moved to California.
This meeting was at Buckingham Palace, the monarch’s official residence in London. CBS News has been told they met privately, for tea, but that all other details of the encounter were private.
While Harry hasn’t been a “working royal” for a couple years, he seemed keen to show on this visit to his home nation that he is still prince charming.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, arrives for a visit to the Community Recording Studio in St. Anns, Sept. 9, 2025, in Nottingham, England.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty
The four-day visit was a clear effort to show he hasn’t lost any love for the causes he holds dear, including supporting sick children and wounded military veterans.
Absent on this trip were Harry’s wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and their children, Archie and Lilibet.
In an interview with CBS News’ partner network BBC News in May, Harry said he couldn’t envision bringing them all back to the U.K. with him since he has lost a legal bid to have his downgraded state security detail restored.
Harry said his battle with the U.K. government to get full state-security restored for himself and his family during visits back to Britain caused a rift between himself and his father.
“Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has. He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff, but it would be nice to reconcile,” he told the BBC.
That reconciliation may have begun on Wednesday. Harry arrived at Buckingham Palace in the afternoon and was seen leaving less than an hour later.
Prince Harry is seen in the back of a vehicle as he arrives at Clarence House, the official residence of his father King Charles III, Sept. 10, 2025, in London, England.
Ben Montgomery/Getty
The father and son relationship is not the only bond that has been strained by the circumstances of Harry and Meghan’s departure — and the prince’s tell-all book “Spare,” and their interviews, and a documentary, in which they were highly critical of their treatment at the hands of the royal family.
It has been even longer since Harry met with his brother, Prince William, who is next in line to sit on the British throne.
This week, Prince William and Harry appeared at charity events at the same time, only about 10 miles from each other. But those who follow the royal family say they remain far apart.
“William and Harry haven’t seen each other in person since 2022, since the late queen’s funeral. And I believe they haven’t spoken personally for the same period. So, there’s been no contact,” Roya Nikkhah, the royal editor for the Sunday Times newspaper, told CBS News on Tuesday. “There’s no chance that William and Harry are going to meet up anytime soon… There is no desire on either side to do that. You know, the brothers haven’t seen each other for such a long time and relations are as bad as they’ve ever been — non-existent.”
London — Britain’s Prince Harry landed back in the U.K. on Monday, the third anniversary of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s death, for a week of public charity engagements, but it was unclear whether he would meet with his father, King Charles III, or his brother, Prince William, neither of whom he has seen in months.
The Duke of Sussex’s packed itinerary began with an award ceremony on Monday for WellChild, a charity for seriously ill children that he supports. Tuesday saw him pay a visit to the central city of Nottingham, with a focus on young people affected by violence, and on Wednesday and Thursday the prince is expected to hold private meetings with representatives from other charities he supports.
Harry’s trip will reportedly be covered at close hand by certain media organizations seen as friendly to the Sussexes. But the question dominating most coverage in Britain has been whether Harry will meet with his father, the king.
Prince Harry arrives at the WellChild Awards 2025, at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, England, Sept. 8, 2025.
Neil Mockford/GC Images/Getty
King Charles and Prince Harry last saw each other in February 2024, during a half-hour meeting following the king’s announcement of his cancer diagnosis.
Harry has been largely estranged from his family since he and wife Meghan moved to the U.S. and spoke out against what they said was racist treatment, including in the prince’s book “Spare.”
“I think if there is any chance of any sort of rapprochement between Charles and Harry, they would need to meet this week,” Roya Nikkhah, the royal editor for the Sunday Times newspaper, told CBS News on Tuesday. “I mean, they’ve not seen each other for 19 months. It’s a very long time.”
“We don’t know when Harry will next be back here. So I think if there isn’t a meeting this week, that gives you an indication that things are really a lot worse on the king’s side than we would hope,” said Nikkhah.
She said a meeting during the prince’s current visit with his brother, future king Prince William, seem much less likely.
From left to right, Catherine, Princess of Wales, William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are seen on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle, Sept. 10, 2022, before meeting well-wishers amid funeral services for the late Queen Elizabeth II.
KIRSTY O’CONNOR/POOL/AFP/Getty
“William and Harry haven’t seen each other in person since 2022, since the late queen’s funeral. And I believe they haven’t spoken personally for the same period. So there’s been no contact,” Nikkhah said. “There’s no chance that William and Harry are going to meet up anytime soon… There is no desire on either side to do that. You know, the brothers haven’t seen each other for such a long time and relations are as bad as they’ve ever been — non-existent.”
Harry’s wife Meghan last visited the U.K. in September 2022, and the couple’s children, Archie and Lilibet, have not been in Britain since June that year, for the queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations.
“I can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the U.K. at this point. And the things they’re going to miss, well, everything… I miss the U.K.,” Harry told CBS News’ news partner network BBC News in May, after losing a legal challenge to have state-provided security increased during visits to his home country.
“I don’t know how much longer my father has. He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff… Of course, some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book. Of course, they will never forgive lots of things. But I would love a reconciliation with my family.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s charitable organization, the Archewell Foundation, suffered an $11 million decline in donations in 2022 compared to the prior year.
The foundation, started two years ago by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to “uplift and unite communities, both local and global, online and offline,” according to its website, disclosed in a tax filing on Tuesday that the non-profit organization received just over $2 million in charitable contributions in 2022, compared to $13 million in 2021.
Archewell’s total expenses also exceeded its revenue last year, leaving it in the red by more than $674,000, according to the public filing. Its revenue in 2021 had exceeded $9 million.
The organization’s executive director, James Holt, earned a salary of $227,405, including a $20,000 bonus, in 2022. That represents a 280% increase from his salary of less than $60,000 in 2021, the organization’s first year in operation. The foundation still holds just over $8.3 million in assets and cash.
The foundation’s current initiatives include The Welcome Project, launched in 2023, to help recently resettled Afghan women build community through activities like sewing and hiking. It also focuses on mental health initiatives, including supporting individuals in Turkey and Syria affected by earthquakes.
The couple also have two for-profit media production companies, Archewell Productions and Archewell Audio. The audio arm in 2020 signed what at the time was announced as a multi-year deal with music and podcast company Spotify, but the partnership unraveled after the parties collaborated on a single series.
Overall contributions to nonprofit organizations fell more than 10% in 2022, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, citing estimates from Giving USA. Donations by individuals, which make up the lion’s share of giving to nonprofits, fell an ever steeper 13.4% amid sharply higher inflation and a decline in staffing at charitable groups.
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News streaming to discuss her reporting.
Spotify and Archewell Audio, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s podcast production company, have ended a commercial partnership after the couple delivered only a single podcast series.
“Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together,” Spotify and Archewell Audio announced Thursday, without elaborating on why they decided to pull the plug.
The deal ends less than a year after Markle’s debut podcast, “Archetypes,” first aired. The segments dug into “the labels that try to hold women back,” according to its description on the platform, with Markle’s guests including Serena Williams, Mariah Carey and Mindy Kaling.
At the time, Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s chief content and advertising business officer, called Prince Harry and Meghan “citizens of the world,” celebrating their goal of uplifting underrepresented voices in their work.
After the partnership ended, Bill Simmons, Spotify’s head of podcast innovation and monetization, blasted the couple, calling them “grifters” in an episode of the his podcast. His guest, podcast host Joe House referred to Simmons’ dealmaking and negotiation experience, when Simmons turned to the news of Harry and Meghan’s deal dissolving.
“I wish I had been involved in the Meghan and Harry leave Spotify negotiation,” said Simmons, best known as an outspoken former ESPN personality. “I got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try to help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories.”
Simmons is also the founder of sports and pop culture website and podcast network The Ringer, which was acquired by Spotify in 2020.
Spotify first announced what it called an exclusive “multiyear partnership” with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in December of 2020 focused on producing podcasts and shows that share “uplifting and entertaining stories” with the streaming platform’s massive audience.
Harry and Meghan also have a multiyear deal with Netflix to produce children’s programming, documentaries, feature films and scripted shows.
The pair relinquished their royal duties in 2020, cutting them off from the British Crown’s estimated $34 billion estate. Forbes last year pegged their net worth at $10 million, including Harry’s inheritance from his mother, Princess Diana, and the equity the couple have in their California mansion.
London — Prince Harry is expected to testify in a U.K. court this week as the trial continues in his case against Britain’s Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). It is the first of three cases Harry is involved in against U.K. tabloids, which the prince alleges spied on him for scoops. His court appearance and cross examination will be the first in modern times for a senior member of Britain’s royal family.
This is a civil, not a criminal case, meaning it’s being heard before a judge, not a jury. The judge will deliver a judgment that can involve the payment of damages.
The suit, involving test cases from Harry and three other well-known British claimants, alleges that journalists working for the Mirror Group gathered information about the prince unlawfully, including by hacking into voicemails. It involves 207 newspaper articles published between 1991 and 2011.
Prince Harry’s legal team initially pointed to 144 articles that they said used unlawfully gathered information about him, but only 33 of those articles will be considered in the trial resuming this week.
The claimants argue that senior executives, including Piers Morgan — who edited the Daily Mirror newspaper from 1995 to 2004 — knew of the illegal activities. Morgan has denied any knowledge of illegal activities.
MGN has previously admitted that phone hacking took place at its tabloids and has settled hundreds of claims, CBS News partner network BBC News reports. Its lawyer denies, however, that 28 of the articles referenced in this case involving Harry used unlawfully-gathered information. MGN’s lawyer said the group had “not admitted” that the other five articles involved unlawful information gathering, according to the BBC.
In separate cases, Harry is also suing News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun tabloid, for alleged hacking, and he is one of several people suing The Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday for alleged unlawful intrusion.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the duke and duchess of Sussex, “stepped back” from their royal duties in 2020. But last month Prince Harry attended his father’s coronation ceremony…it was an awkward appearance for the 38-year-old prince after the release earlier this year of his searing memoir “Spare” – the title a nod to his backup role in the line of succession. As we first reported in January, the book is a stunning break with royal protocol. It’s a deeply personal account of Prince Harry’s decades-long struggle with grief after the death of his mother Princess Diana, and a revealing look at his fractured relationships with his father, King Charles, his stepmother, Queen Camilla, and his brother Prince William…the heir to his spare.
Anderson Cooper: You write about a contentious meeting you had with him in 2021. You said, “I looked at Willy, really looked at him maybe for the first time since we were boys. I took it all in, his familiar scowl, which had always been his default in dealings with me, his alarming baldness, more advanced than my own, his famous resemblance to Mummy which was fading with time, with age.” That’s pretty cutting.
Prince Harry: I don’t see it as cutting at all. Um, you know, my brother and I love each other. I love him deeply. There has been a lot of pain between the two of us, especially the last six years. None of anything I’ve written, anything that I’ve included is ever intended to hurt my family. But it does give a full picture of the situation as we were growing up, and also squashes this idea that somehow my wife was the one that destroyed the relationship between these two brothers.
Anderson Cooper: I think so many people around the world watched you and your brother grow up and feel like you two were inseparable. And yet in reading the book, you have lived separate lives from the time your mom died.
Prince Harry: Uh-huh (AFFIRM)
Anderson Cooper: Even when you were in the same school, in high school…
Prince Harry: Sibling rivalry.
Anderson Cooper: Your brother told you, “Pretend we don’t know each other.”
Prince Harry: Yeah, and at the time it hurt. I couldn’t make sense of it. I was like, “What do you mean? We’re now at the same school. Like, I haven’t seen you for ages, now we get to hang out together.” He’s like, “No, no, no, when we’re at school we don’t know each other.” And I took that personally. But yes, you’re absolutely right, you hit the nail on the head. Like, we had a very similar traumatic experience, and then we– we dealt with it two very different ways.
Prince Harry
Anderson Cooper: William had tried to talk to you occasionally about your mom, but, as a child you could not– you couldn’t respond.
Prince Harry: For me, it was never a case of, “I don’t want to talk about it with you.” I just don’t know how to talk about it. I never ever thought that maybe talking about it with my brother or with anybody else at that point would be therapeutic.
In August 1997, Harry and William were vacationing in Scotland with their father. Harry was 12, William, 15. They were asleep at Balmoral Castle on August 31st, when Harry was awakened by his father who told him his mother had been in a car crash in Paris.
Anderson Cooper: In the book you write, “He says, ‘They tried, darling boy. I’m afraid she didn’t make it.’ These phrases remain in my mind like darts on a board,” you say. Did– did you cry?
Prince Harry: No. No. Never shed a single tear at that point. I was in shock, you know? Twelve years old, sort of 7:00– 7:30 in the morning early. Your father comes in, sits on your bed, puts his hand on your knee and tells you “There’s been an accident.” I– I couldn’t believe.
Anderson Cooper: And you write in the book that, “Pa didn’t hug me. He wasn’t great at showing emotions under normal circumstances. But his hand did fall once more on my knee and he said, ‘It’s going to be okay.’” But after that, nothing was okay for a long time.
Harry says his memories of the next few days are fragmented. But he does remember this: greeting mourners outside Kensington Palace in London the day before his mother’s funeral.
Anderson Cooper: When you see those videos now, what do you think?
Prince Harry: I think it’s bizarre, because I see William and me smiling. I remember the guilt that I felt.
Anderson Cooper: Guilt about?
Prince Harry: The fact that the people that we were meeting were showing more emotion than we were showing, maybe more emotion than we even felt.
Anderson Cooper: They were crying, but you weren’t.
Prince Harry: There was a lotta tears. I talk about how wet people’s hands were. And I couldn’t understand it at first.
Anderson Cooper: Their hands were wet from crying–
Prince Harry: Their hands were wet from wiping their own tears away. I do remember one of the strangest parts to it was taking flowers from people and then placing those flowers with the rest of them. As if I was some sort of middle person for their grief. And that really stood out for me.
The funeral, on a cool September morning, was watched by as many as 2.5 billion people around the world. Perhaps the most indelible image: Prince Harry and his brother, walking behind their mother’s casket on its way to Westminster Abbey.
Anderson Cooper: What do you remember about that walk?
Prince Harry: How quiet it was. I remember, the occasional wail and screaming of someone. I remember the horse hooves on the road.
Prince Harry: The bridles of the horses, the gun carriage, the wheels, the occasional gravel stone underneath your shoe. But mainly the– the silence.
After the service, Princess Diana’s body was brought for burial to her family’s ancestral estate, Althorp.
Prince Harry: Once my mother’s coffin actually went into the ground, that was the first time that I actually cried. Yeah, there was never another time.
Anderson Cooper: All through your teenage years, you did– you didn’t cry about it?
Prince Harry: No.
Anderson Cooper: You didn’t believe she was dead.
Prince Harry: Unh-uh (NEGATIVE). For a long– for a long time, I just refused to accept that she was– she was gone. Um, part of, you know, she would never do this to us, but also part of, maybe this is all part of a plan.
Anderson Cooper: I mean, you really believed that maybe she had just decided to disappear for a time?
Prince Harry: For a time, and then that she would call us and that we would go and join her, yeah.
Anderson Cooper: How long did you believe that?
Prince Harry: Years. Many, many years. And William and I talked about it as well. He had– he had um, similar thoughts.
Anderson Cooper: You write in the book, “I’d often say it to myself first thing in the morning, ‘Maybe this is the day. Maybe this is the day that she’s gonna reappear.’”
Prince Harry: Yeah, hope. I had huge amounts of hope
He held onto that hope into adulthood. When Harry was 20, he asked to see the police report about the crash that killed his mother, her boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed and their driver Henri Paul while they were being pursued by paparazzi in a Paris tunnel.
Anderson Cooper: The files contained photographs of the crash scene. Why did you want to see it?
Prince Harry: Mainly proof. Proof that she was in the car. Proof that she was injured. And proof that the very paparazzi that chased her into the tunnel were the ones that were taking photographs– photographs of her lying half dead on the back seat of the car.
Anderson Cooper: You write in the book, “I hadn’t been aware before this moment,” talking about looking at the pictures of the crash scene, “that the last thing Mummy saw on this earth was a flash bulb.”
Prince Harry: Yep
Anderson Cooper: That’s what you saw in the pictures?
Prince Harry: Uh-huh (AFFIRM) (good face). Well they were – the pictures showed the reflection of a group of photographs taking photographs through the window, and the reflection on the window was– was them.
He only saw some of the crash photos, his private secretary and advisor dissuaded him from looking at the rest.
Prince Harry: All I saw was the back of my mum’s head– slumped on the back seat. There were other more gruesome photographs, but I will be eternally grateful to him for denying me the ability to inflict pain on myself by seeing that. Because that’s the kinda stuff that sticks in your mind forever.
Harry says he believed his mother might stillbe alive until he was 23 and visited Paris for the first time.
Anderson Cooper: You told your driver, “I want to go to the tunnel where my mom died?”
Prince Harry: I wanted to see whether it was possible driving at the speed that Henri Paul was driving that you could lose control of a car and plow into a pillar killing almost everybody in that car. I need to take this journey. I need to ride the same route–
Anderson Cooper: The same tunnel, the same speed–
Prince Harry: All of it.
Anderson Cooper: –your mother was going.
Prince Harry: Yup. Because William and I had already been told, “The event was like a bicycle chain. If you remove one of those chains, the end result would not have happened.” And the paparazzi chasing was part of that. But yet, everybody got away with it.
Harry writes he and his brother weren’t satisfied with the results of a 2006 investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police, concluding Diana’s driver, Henri Paul, had been drinking and the crash was a “tragic accident.”
Prince Harry: William and I considered reopening the inquest. Because there were so many gaps and so many holes in it. Which just didn’t add up and didn’t make sense.
Anderson Cooper: Would you still like to do that?
Prince Harry: I don’t even know if it’s an option now. But no, I think– brrrr– would I like to do that now? It’s a hell of a question, Anderson.
Anderson Cooper: Do you feel you have the answers that you need to have about what happened to your mom?
Prince Harry: Truth be known, no. I don’t think I do. And I don’t think my brother does either. I don’t think the world does. Um – do I need any more than I already know? No. I don’t think it would change much.
Harry now says it wasn’t until he served in combat with the British Army in Afghanistan that he finally found purpose and a sense of normalcy.
Prince Harry: My military career saved me in many regard.
Anderson Cooper: How so?
Prince Harry: Got me out of the spotlight from the– from the U.K. press. I was able to focus on a purpose larger than myself, to be wearing the same uniform as everybody else, to feel normal for the first time in my life. And accomplish some of the biggest challenges that I ever had. You know, I was training to become an Apache helicopter pilot. You don’t get a pass for being a prince.
Anderson Cooper: The Apache doesn’t give a crap about who you are.
Prince Harry: No, there’s– there’s no prince autopilot button you (LAUGH) can press and just whff– takes you away. I was a really good candidate for the military. I was a young man in my 20s suffering from shock. But I was now in the front seat of an Apache shooting it, flying it, monitoring four radios simultaneously and being there to save and help anybody that was on the– on the ground with a radio screaming, “We need support, we need air support.” That was my calling. I felt healing from that weirdly.
Anderson Cooper: And that multi-tasking the brain work of that, that felt good to you?
Prince Harry: It felt like I was turning pain into a purpose. I didn’t have the awareness at the time that I was living my life in adrenaline, and that was the case from age 12, from the moment that I was told that my mom had died.
Anderson Cooper: you say, “War didn’t begin in Afghanistan. It began in August 1997.”
Prince Harry: Yeah. The war for me unknowingly was when my mum died.
Anderson Cooper: Who were you fighting?
Prince Harry: Myself. I had a huge amount of frustration and blame towards the British press for their part in it.
Anderson Cooper: Even at 12 at that young you were feeling that toward the British press?
Prince Harry: Yeah. I mean, it was obvious to us as kids the British press’ part in our mother’s misery and I had a lot of anger inside of me that luckily, I never expressed to anybody. But I resorted to drinking heavily. Because I wanted to numb the feeling, or I wanted to distract myself from how… whatever I was thinking. And I would, you know, resort to drugs as well.
Harry admits he smoked pot and used cocaine. And he writes that in his late 20s he felt “hopeless” and “lost.”
Prince Harry: There was this weight on my chest that I felt for so many years that I was never able to cry. So I was constantly trying to find a way to cry, but– in even sitting on my sofa and going over as many memories as I could muster up about my mum. And sometimes I watched videos online.
Anderson Cooper: Of your mom?
Prince Harry: Of my mum.
Anderson Cooper: Hoping to cry?
Prince Harry: Yup.
Anderson Cooper: And you couldn’t.
Prince Harry: I couldn’t.
He sought out help from a therapist for the first time seven years ago. And he reveals he’s also tried more experimental treatments.
Anderson Cooper: You write in the book about psychedelics, Ayahuasca, psilocybin, mushrooms.
Prince Harry: I would never recommend people to do this recreationally. But doing it with the right people if you are suffering from a huge amount of loss, grief or trauma, then these things have a way of working as a medicine.
Anderson Cooper: They showed you something. What did they show you?
Prince Harry: For me, they cleared the windscreen, the windshield the misery of loss. They cleared away this idea that I had in my head that– that my mother, that I needed to cry to prove to my mother that I missed her. When in fact, all she wanted was for me to be happy.
Prince Harry says he’s found that happiness with his wife in California, but he’s far from at peace with the royal family.
As we first reported in January, Prince Harry’s memoir “Spare” is anything but spare in its unflattering portrayal of the royal family, especially his stepmother Camilla. She married then-Prince Charles in 2005, though the two had been romantically involved on and off for decades. When Princess Diana famously referred to Camilla as the third person in her marriage, the British tabloids ran with it, and Prince Harry has never forgotten.Prince Harry: She was the villain. She was the third person in their marriage. She needed to rehabilitate her image.
Anderson Cooper: You and your brother both directly asked your dad not to marry Camilla?
Prince Harry: Yes.
Anderson Cooper: Why?
Prince Harry: We didn’t think it was necessary. We thought that it was gonna cause more harm than good and that if he was now with his person, that– surely that’s enough. Why go that far when you don’t necessarily need to? We wanted him to be happy. And we saw how happy he was with her. So, at the time, it was, “Ok.”
Anderson Cooper: You wrote that she started a campaign in the British press to pave the way for a marriage. And you wrote, “I even wanted Camilla to be happy. Maybe she’d be less dangerous if she was happy.” How was she dangerous?
Prince Harry: Because of the need for her to rehabilitate her image.
Anderson Cooper: That made her dangerous?
Prince Harry: That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press. And there was open willingness on both sides to trade of information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her, on the way to being Queen consort, there was gonna be people or bodies left in the street because of that.
Harry says over the years, he was one of those bodies. He accuses Camilla and even his father, at times, of using him or William to get better tabloid coverage for themselves. Prince Harry writes, Camilla, “sacrificed me on her personal P.R. altar.”
Prince Harry: If you are led to believe, as a member of the family, that being on the front page, having positive headlines, positive stories written about you, is going to improve your reputation or increase the chances of you being accepted as monarch by the British public, then that’s what you’re gonna do.
In his book, Harry writes that when he introduced Meghan Markle to his family in 2016, his father initially took a liking to her, but William was skeptical, disdainfully referring to Meghan as “an American actress.” Though Harry doesn’t specify who – he says other members of the royal family were uneasy as well.
Prince Harry: Right from the beginning, before they even had a chance to get to know her. And the U.K. press jumped on that. And here we are.
Anderson Cooper: And what was that based on, that mistrust?
Prince Harry: The fact that she was American, an actress, divorced, Black, biracial with a Black mother. Those were just four of the typical stereotypes that is– becomes a feeding frenzy for the British press.
Anderson Cooper: But all those things within the family also were– were sources of mistrust,
Prince Harry: Yes. You know, my family read the tabloids, you know? It’s laid out– at breakfast when everyone comes together. So, whether you walk around saying you believe it or not, it’s still– it’s still leaving an imprint in your mind. So if you have that judgment based on a stereotype right at the beginning, it’s very, very hard to get over that. And a large part of it for the family, but also the British press and numerous other people is, like, “He’s changed. She must be a witch. He’s changed.” As opposed to yeah, I did change, and I’m really glad I changed. Because rather than getting drunk, falling out of clubs, taking drugs, I had now found the love of my life, and I now had the opportunity to start a family with her.
Soon after their relationship became public, Harry insisted on putting out a statement condemning some of the tabloid coverage of Meghan and what he called quote “the racial undertones of comment pieces.”
Anderson Cooper: You write that your dad and your brother, William, were furious with you for doing that. Why?
Prince Harry: They felt as though it made them look bad. They felt as though they didn’t have a chance or weren’t able to do that for their partners. What Meghan had to go through was similar in some part to what Kate and what Camilla went through, very different circumstances. But then you add in the race element, which was what the press– British press jumped on straight away. I went into this incredibly naïve. I had no idea the British press were so bigoted. Hell, I was probably bigoted before–
Anderson Cooper: You– you–
Prince Harry: –the relationship with– with Meghan.
Anderson Cooper: You think you were bigoted before the relationship with Meghan.
Prince Harry: I– I don’t know. Put it this way, I didn’t see what I now see.
They were married in May 2018, in a ceremony that seemed to promise a more modern and inclusive royal family — and given the titles duke and duchess of Sussex. But behind the scenes, according to Harry, William’s mistrust of Meghan only worsened.
Anderson Cooper: Did you ever try to meet with William and Kate to try to defuse the tension?
In early 2019, Harry writes, the rancor between William and him exploded at Harry’s cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace.
Anderson Cooper: Your arguments with your brother became physical.
Prince Harry: It was a buildup of– frustration, I think, on his part. It was at a time where he was being told certain things by people within his office. And at the same time, he was consuming a lot of the tabloid press, a lot of the stories. And he had a few issues, which were based not on reality. And I was defending my wife. And he was coming for my wife– she wasn’t there at the time– but through the things that he was saying. I was defending myself. And we moved from one room into the kitchen. And his frustrations were growing, and growing, and growing. He was shouting at me. I was shouting back at him. It wasn’t nice. It wasn’t pleasant at all. And he snapped. And he pushed me to the floor.
Anderson Cooper: He knocked you over?
Prince Harry: He knocked me over. I landed on the dog bowl.
Anderson Cooper: You cut your back.
Prince Harry: Yeah. I cut my back. I didn’t know about it at the time. But, yeah, he– he apologized afterwards. It was a pretty nasty experience, but—
Anderson Cooper: He asked you not to tell anybody– not to tell Meghan?
Prince Harry: Yeah. And– and I wouldn’t have done. And, I didn’t until she– until she saw on the– on my back. She goes, “What’s that?” I was like, “Huh, what?” I actually didn’t know what she was talking about. I looked in the mirror. I was like, “Oh s***.” Well, ’cause I’d never s-I hadn’t seen it.
Meghan has said constant criticism and pressure led her in the winter of 2019 to contemplate suicide.
Prince Harry: The thing that’s terrified me the most is history repeating itself.
Anderson Cooper: You really feared that your wife, Meghan…
Prince Harry: Yes, I feared, I feared a lot that the end result, the fact that I lost my mum when I was 12 years old, could easily happen again to my wife.
In January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan announced they intended to, in their words, step back as senior members of the royal family. They moved to California three months later. Then there was the headline-grabbing interview with Oprah Winfrey and a deal with Netflix worth a reported $100 million. Critics say the duke and duchess are cashing in on their royal titles while they still can.
Anderson Cooper: Why not renounce your titles as duke and duchess?
Prince Harry: And what difference would that make?
Anderson Cooper: One of the criticisms that you’ve received is that okay, fine, you wanna move to California, you wanna step back from the institutional role. Why be so public? Why reveal conversations you’ve had with your father or– with your brother? You say you tried to do this privately.
Prince Harry: And every single time I’ve tried to do it privately there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife. You know, the family motto is never complain, never explain. But it’s just a motto. And it doesn’t really hold–
Anderson Cooper: There’s a lotta complaining and a lot of explaining.
Prince Harry: Endless–
Anderson Cooper: Private– being done in– through leaks.
Prince Harry: Through leaks.
Prince Harry continues to claim he would never leak against his family.
Prince Harry: So now, trying to speak a language that perhaps they understand, I will sit here and speak truth to you with the words that come out of my mouth, rather than using someone else, an unnamed source, to feed in lies or a narrative to a tabloid media that literally radicalizes its readers to then potentially cause harm to my family, my wife, my kids.
In December, the British tabloid The Sun published a vicious column about Meghan written by a TV host.
Anderson Cooper: He said, “I hate her. At night, I’m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day where she is made to walk naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, ‘Shame,’ and throw lumps of excrement at her.” Did that surprise you?
Prince Harry: Did it surprise me? No. Is it shocking? Yes. I mean, thank you for proving our point.
Anderson Cooper: Has there been any response from the palace
Prince Harry: No. And there comes a point when silence is betrayal
Harry has been back in the United Kingdom. He was in London last September for a charity event when the palace announced his grandmother, the queen, was under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
Prince Harry: I asked my brother– I said, “What are your plans? How are you and Kate getting up there?” And then, a couple of hours later, you know, all of the fam– family members that live within the Windsor and Ascot area were jumping on a plane together, a plane with 12, 14, maybe 16 seats.
Anderson Cooper: You were not invited on that plane?
Prince Harry: I was not invited.
By the time Harry got to Balmoral on his own, the queen was dead.
Prince Harry: I walked into the hall, and my aunt was there to greet me. And she asked me if I wanted to see her. I thought about it for about five seconds, thinking, “Is this a good idea?” And I was, like, “You know what? You can– you can do this. You– you need to say goodbye.” So I went upstairs, took my jacket off and walked in and just spent some time with her alone.
Anderson Cooper: Where was she?
Prince Harry: She was in her bedroom. I was actually– I was really happy for her. Because she’d finished life. She’d completed life, and her husband was– was waiting for her. And the two of them are buried together.
As they had 25 years earlier, Harry and William found themselves walking together, but apart, this time behind their grandmother’s casket.
Anderson Cooper: Do you speak to William now? Do you text?
Prince Harry: Currently, no. But I look forward to– I look forward to us being able to find peace. I want—
Anderson Cooper: How long has it been since you spoke?
Prince Harry: A while.
Anderson Cooper: Do you speak to your dad?
Prince Harry: We aren’t– we haven’t spoken for quite a while. No, not recently.
Anderson Cooper: Can you see a day when you would return as a full-time member of the royal family?
Prince Harry: No. I can’t see that happening.
Anderson Cooper: In the book, you called this, “A– full-scale rupture.” Can it be healed?
Prince Harry: Yes. The ball is very much in their court, but, you know, Meghan and I have continued to say that we will openly apologize for anything that we did wrong, but every time we ask that question, no one’s telling us sp– the specifics or anything. There needs to be a constructive conversation, one that can happen in private that doesn’t get leaked.
Anderson Cooper: I assume they would say, “Well, how can we trust you how do we know that you’re not gonna reveal whatever conversations we have in an interview somewhere?”
Prince Harry: This all started with them briefing, daily, against my wife with lies to the point of where my wife and I had to run away from our count– my country.
Anderson Cooper: It’s hard, I think, for anybody to imagine a family dynamic that is so “Game of Thrones” without dragons.
Prince Harry: I don’t watch “Game of Thrones,” but–
Anderson Cooper: Oh. Okay.
Prince Harry: –there’s def– but there’s definitely dragons. And that’s again the third party which is the British Press so ultimately without the British press as part of this, we would probably still be a fairly dysfunctional family, like, a lot are. But at the heart of it, there is a family, without question. Um – and I really look forward to having that family element back. I look forward to having a relationship with my brother. I look forward to having a relationship with my father and other members of my family.
Anderson Cooper: You want that?
Prince Harry: That’s all I’ve ever asked for.
We reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment back in January. The palace has still not made any official comment about Prince Harry’s book.
Produced by Draggan Mihailovich. Associate producer, Emily Cameron. Broadcast associate, Eliza Costas. Edited by Warren Lustig.
Anderson Cooper, anchor of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” has contributed to 60 Minutes since 2006. His exceptional reporting on big news events has earned Cooper a reputation as one of television’s pre-eminent newsmen.
London — Prince Harry has lost a bid to bring a legal challenge against the U.K. government over its refusal to allow him to pay privately for personal police protection for himself and his family when the estranged royals visit Britain.
Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, gave up their roles as senior “working” members of the royal family in 2020, soon after which they settled in California. That year, the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC), made up of officials from the government, London’s Metropolitan Police Service and the royal household, decided the Sussexes no longer qualified for special police protection in the U.K.
Harry had argued through his lawyers at Britain’s High Court that a formal judicial review process should assess the government’s decision to refuse his offer to have the personal protection order restored at his expense.
“RAVEC has exceeded its authority, its power, because it doesn’t have the power to make this decision in the first place,” Harry’s lawyers told the court, according to CBS News’ partner network BBC News.
In a written judgment on Tuesday, however, High Court Justice Martin Chamberlain denied Harry permission to bring a judicial review over RAVEC’s decision, describing the committee’s actions as “narrowly confined to the protective security services that fall within its remit.”
Harry’s legal team had argued in court that there were provisions in U.K. law that allowed for private payment for “special police services,” and as such, “payment for policing is not inconsistent with the public interest or public confidence in the Metropolitan Police Service,” according to the BBC.
In his ruling, Chamberlain also rejected that argument, saying the security services Harry was seeking were “different in kind from the police services provided at (for example) sporting or entertainment events, because they involve the deployment of highly trained specialist officers, of whom there are a limited number, and who are required to put themselves in harm’s way to protect their principals.”
“RAVEC’s reasoning was that there are policy reasons why those services should not be made available for payment, even though others are. I can detect nothing that is arguably irrational in that reasoning,” Chamberlain wrote.
The battle over his personal protection when he visits Britain is just one of several legal cases Prince Harry is currently involved in.
The duke is also part of a small group of celebrities alleging unlawful information gathering by Britain’s tabloid press. Harry and Meghan have filed at least seven lawsuits against U.S. and U.K. media outlets since 2019, according to the U.K.’s Sky News.
King Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, were both formally crowned in the first coronation ceremony the United Kingdom has seen since Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953.
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Britain’s King Charles III was officially crowned in a lavish coronation ceremony on Saturday, along with his wife, Queen Camilla. Here is a look at how the historic day unfolded in pictures.
Coldstream Guards and London Metropolitan Police march in the procession ahead of the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
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It was 57 degrees Fahrenheit and raining in London, but that didn’t stop crowds from camping outside Buckingham Palace.
The Diamond Jubilee State Coach, accompanied by the Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, travels along The Mall en route to Westminster Abbey.
Gareth Fuller / Getty Images
King Charles and Queen Camilla rode in the Diamond Jubilee Coach from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. The king waved to the crowd during the 1.3-mile King’s Procession through central London.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla traveled in the Diamond Jubilee Coach from Buckingham Palace en route to Westminster Abbey for their coronation on May 6, 2023 in London, England.
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Britain’s King Charles III waves as he rides in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, during the “King’s Procession.”
CHARLES MCQUILLAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Military personnel marched down the Mall in the King’s Procession ahead of the coronation.
Military personnel march down the Mall in the King’s Procession ahead of the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
Gareth Fuller / Getty Images
Meanwhile, around 2,000 invited guests, including royalty and world leaders, gathered at Westminster Abbey to await the ceremony.
First lady of the United States, Dr Jill Biden, and her granddaughter Finnegan Biden ahead of the coronation.
Andrew Matthews / Getty Images
American first lady Jill Biden and her granddaughter, Finnegan, were in the crowd at Westminster Abbey. President Biden did not attend, but U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Jane Hartley told CBS News that Mr. Biden spoke by phone with the king and is looking forward to visiting.
Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales; Catherine, Princess of Wales; Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte arrive at Westminster Abbey.
ANDREW MILLIGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, arrived at Westminster Abbey with two of their children, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte. At one point, photographers captured the 5-year-old prince yawning during the ceremony.
Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis arriving at Westminster Abbey.
Andrew Milligan / Getty Images
Prince Louis yawned during the coronation ceremony as he sat with his parents, Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, and his sister, Princess Charlotte.
Yui Mok/Getty Images
William and Kate’s oldest son, Prince George, served as a Page of Honor for King Charles.
Prince George of Wales served as a Page of Honour during the coronation of his grandfather, Britain’s King Charles III.
GARETH CATTERMOLE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Charles’ younger sister, Princess Anne, arrived at the coronation. Anne took part in the ceremony as the Gold-Stick-in-Waiting, a privilege that dates back to the 15th century. The Gold Stick and Silver Stick are entrusted with the personal safety of the sovereign.
Anne, Princess Royal arrives at the coronation.
Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
Prince Andrew, Duke of York, arrived with his daughter, Princess Eugenie. Andrew, who is not a “working” royal, did not take part in the procession.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Princess Eugenie of York traveling in the state car.
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Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, attended the coronation without his wife, Meghan, or two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives for the coronation.
PHIL NOBLE / Getty Images
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attends the coronation of his father, King Charles III.
BEN STANSALL / Getty Images
As with Andrew, Harry did not take part in the official procession since he is not a “working” royal.
James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh and Lady Louise Windsor arrive ahead of the coronation.
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King Charles’ youngest brother, Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, arrived at the coronation with their children, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty were also among the world leaders at Westminster Abbey for the coronation.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and wife Akshata Murty arrives ahead of the coronation.
PHIL NOBLE / Getty Images
Coronation ceremonies for British kings and queens have been held at Westminster Abbey for the last 900 years.
Queen Camilla arrives for her coronation at Westminster Abbey, on May 6, 2023.
Andrew Matthews / Getty Images
Queen Camilla wore a long ivory gown for the ceremony.
In 2022, Queen Elizabeth announced that Camilla would have the title of Queen Consort when Charles became king. While Charles said he and Camilla were “deeply conscious of the honor represented by my mother’s wish,” when his coronation invitations went out, Camilla’s title was changed to simply “Queen.” On Friday night, the palace referred to Camilla as the queen for the first time. Britain’s PA news wire said the change had taken effect as of the beginning of coronation day, even before Camilla was formally crowned.
Queen Camilla is crowned with Queen Mary’s Crown by The Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby during the coronation.
Yui Mok / Getty Images
Queen Camilla was crowned with Queen Mary’s Crown. The St. Edward’s Crown was used for King Charles.
Nicholas Lyons, Lord Mayor of the City of London carries the St Edward’s Crown during the coronation.
Gareth Cattermole
St. Edward’s Crown, the crown historically used at the moment of coronation, was made for the coronation of King Charles II in 1661. The crown has a velvet cap with an ermine band and the frame is made of solid gold set with rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnet, topazes and tourmalines.
King Charles III is crowned with St Edward’s Crown by The Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby during his coronation ceremony.
Aaron Chown / Getty Images
Reverend Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, crowed King Charles III during the coronation ceremony.
King Charles III after being crowned with St Edward’s Crown by The Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby during his coronation ceremony.
Aaron Chown / Getty Images
Prince William kissed his father and he pledged loyalty to him during the coronation.
Prince William, Prince of Wales kisses his father, King Charles III, wearing St Edward’s Crown, during the coronation ceremony.
Yui Mok / Getty Images
Following the ceremony, the royal family set out in a procession back to Buckingham Palace.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla traveling in the Gold State Coach sets off from Westminster Abbey on route to Buckingham Palace.
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King Charles and Queen Camilla departed in the Gold State Coach, which was built in 1760 and used at every coronation since that of William IV in 1831.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla wave from the Buckingham Palace balcony following their coronation.
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King Charles and Queen Camilla waved from the Buckingham Palace balcony in a symbolic moment with members of the royal family gathered alongside them.
King Charles III, wearing the Imperial State Crown, and Queen Camilla, wearing a modified version of Queen Mary’s Crown, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following their coronation.
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Left to right: Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor; Sir Timothy Laurence; Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh; Princess Charlotte of Wales; Princess Anne, Princess Royal; Catherine, Princess of Wales; Prince Louis of Wales; Prince William, Duke of Cambridge; Prince George of Wales; King Charles III and Queen Camilla on the Buckingham Palace balcony following the coronation.
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Thousands of people lined the Mall outside Buckingham Palace to celebrate King Charles’ coronation.
Members of the public along The Mall following the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023 in London, England.
Prince Harry attended his father King Charles II’s coronation without his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, or their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. He also had no formal role during the ceremony and did not appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony with other members of the family.
In April, Buckingham Palace announced Harry, who is fifth in line for the throne, would attend the coronation while Meghan remained in California with their young children. The day of the coronation, May 6, happens to be Archie’s birthday.
Harry’s brother, Prince William, who is first in line for the throne, had a key role in the ceremony. After their father was crowned king, William kissed his father and pledged his loyalty to him. William’s 9-year-old son, Prince George, also served as a Page of Honor for King Charles, and Camilla’s grandsons served as three of her Pages of Honor.
Harry has been estranged from his family since he and his family moved to California in 2020. In the Netflix documentary released last year, he and Meghan said she faced racism and mistreatment from the British press and claimed the royal family did not offer support. Her mental health suffered and with a lack of help from the family and they worried about the lack of security for their family, leading the pair to decide to leave their roles as senior royals.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex leaves Westminster Abbey following the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023 in London, England.
TOBY MELVILLE / Getty Images
Harry made further accusations and other public comments about the royals in his book, “Spare,” and during the press tour for the book.
The invitation to the coronation seemed like an olive branch from his father, but it appears Harry’s relationships with his family members are still strained.
He and his uncle, the disgraced Prince Andrew, did not have roles during the ceremony and did not join the procession, as neither are “working” members of the family. Instead, Harry arrived with his cousin, Prince Andrew’s daughter Princess Beatrice.
Where did Harry sit at the coronation ceremony?
Harry did not sit with other senior royals, instead he was three rows back during the elaborate ceremony. He did, however, appear to be smiling in many photos from the event.
During the ceremony, he sat next to Princess Eugenie’s husband Jack Brooksbank, and behind his aunt, Princess Anne, and Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin, the Duke of Kent, according to BBC News.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex during the coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey, on May 6, 2023 in London, England.
Richard Pohle / Getty Images
He was seen getting into a car alone after the ceremony. Prince Andrew, who also appeared in the third row, left with Eugeine and Brooksbank.
Was Harry allowed to join the “working royals” on the balcony?
Harry did not appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the ceremony, a longtime tradition for senior members of the royal family. Instead, newly-crowned King Charles III and Queen Camilla stood with the “working” members of the family as well as their grandkids — many of whom played roles during the ceremony.
Left to right: Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor; Sir Timothy Laurence; Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh; Princess Charlotte of Wales; Princess Anne, Princess Royal; Catherine, Princess of Wales; Prince Louis of Wales; Prince William, Duke of Cambridge; Prince George of Wales; King Charles III and Queen Camilla on the Buckingham Palace balcony following the coronation on May 6, 2023.
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Harry and Meghan attended Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral last year, but tension remained behind the scenes, according to Valentine Low, royal correspondent for the Times of London newspaper. “There was definitely not any great personal warmth between the two couples,” Low told CBS News about Princes Harry and William and their wives. Low said Meghan may have skipped the coronation so as to lessen the drama.
U.K. publication The Sun reported Harry would only be in the U.K. for about 24 hours and would leave promptly after the coronation ceremony. CBS News contributor Tina Brown confirmed that he would not attend the private lunch for the family members.
Is Prince Harry still in line to the throne?
Harry is still fifth in line to the throne. His father is king, his brother, Prince William is first in line and William’s children – Prince George, Prince Charlotte and Prince Louis – are second, third and fourth in line, respectively. Harry’s son Prince Archie is sixth in line for the throne and daughter Princess Lilibet is seventh in line.
Click here for a schedule of the expected events during the hours-long coronation processions and ceremony.
Arrests as anti-monarchy protests planned for coronation day
Protests against the British monarchy were planned around the United Kingdom for the day of the coronation by the anti-monarchy group Republic. Early Saturday morning, Republic said its leader was among several people arrested as they showed up to stage a demonstration at London’s Trafalgar Square.
“They’ve arrested six of our organizers and seized hundreds of placards,” an activist with the group told the AFP news agency. “They won’t tell us why they’ve arrested them or where they’re being held.”
This morning, @GrahamSmith_ and 5 members of our team were arrested. Hundreds of placards were seized. Is this democracy? #NotMyKing#Coronation
Police did not immediately confirm any arrests, but they had warned against any attempts to disrupt the day’s proceedings. There were reports that some protesters had planned to try to do just that, interfering with the processions, according to U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden. He said the government had received intelligence that some people might try to spook horses on the procession route by sounding rape alarms.
Republic wants Britain’s monarch to be replaced as the official head of state by an elected official. Republic is either organizing or promoting peaceful rallies in England and Scotland.
Protesters hold placards with the message “Not my king” before Britain’s King Charles III arrives to attend the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in London, March 13, 2023.
Frank Augstein/AP
Click here to read a full story on the planned protests.
What’s the point, and what happens at a coronation?
Coronation ceremonies came out of an historic need to bring stability to European monarchies amid competing claims to their thrones, as well as traditions of church involvement in the state. They do not take place immediately after the death of the previous monarch to allow time for the country to grieve. The ceremony is largely religious, and it does not bring King Charles any further privileges as the monarch, which he has been since the moment his mother died.
British coronations are carried out by the Anglican Church, otherwise known as the Church of England. The only part of the coronation ceremony required under British law is the Coronation Oath. The exact wording of which has varied over the centuries, and it has been updated for Charles to reflect a more modern Britain.
After the oath, the king will be anointed with holy oil by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who will pour the oil onto a spoon and anoint Charles’ hands, head and breast. Then, Charles will be given the royal robe, the orb, the coronation ring, the sceptre and the rod of his position. Finally, at the “moment of coronation,” St. Edward’s Crown will be placed on his head.
Here’s the schedule of events for coronation day
King Charles and Camilla, his queen consort, will begin to travel from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey in a procession at 5:20 a.m. Eastern, 10:20 a.m. local time. The route they will take is 1.3 miles long, directly through central London.
The coronation ceremony will begin at Westminster Abbey at 6:00 a.m. Eastern, 11:00 a.m. local time and is expected to last for about two hours. Afterwards, they will travel in a procession back to Buckingham Palace.
Click here for a full schedule of the coronation events and to learn how to watch the ceremony from wherever you are.
More than 2,000 guests from around the world are expected to attend the coronation, which will be held at Westminster Abbey at 6 a.m. ET (11 a.m. local time in London).
Before the service, Charles and his wife, Camilla, will participate in the King’s Procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. Following the service, the king and queen will greet crowds from the balcony at Buckingham Palace.
How to watch King Charles’ coronation on TV and streaming
What: The coronation of King Charles III
Date: Saturday, May 6, 2023
CBS coverage begins: 5 a.m. ET
Location: Westminster Abbey, London
Follow: Live updates on CBSNews.com
What time will the coronation be televised in the U.S.?
CBS News coverage begins at 5 a.m. ET. The King’s Procession will start at 5:20 a.m. ET ahead of the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey, which will begin at 6 a.m. ET.
“CBS Saturday Morning” co-hosts Michelle Miller, Dana Jacobson and Jeff Glor will anchor live coverage from London across all CBS News platforms starting at 5 a.m. ET. A team will join them in London, including CBS News foreign correspondents Holly Williams, Mark Phillips, Imtiaz Tyab and Chris Livesay, along with royal experts Tina Brown, Julian Payne and Wesley Kerr.
How long will the coronation last?
The coronation is expected to be about two hours. After the ceremony, the king and queen will climb into the Gold State Coach, a gilded, horse-drawn carriage that is more than 200 years old, for another procession back to Buckingham Palace. The procession will retrace the same route as the one earlier in the day and last about 30 minutes.
Charles and Camilla will then receive a royal salute from the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Armed Forces in the Buckingham Palace gardens.
At around 9:15 a.m. ET (2:15 p.m. in Britain), members of the royal family will appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a fly-past of military planes and helicopters belonging to the British army, navy and air force.
Meghan Markle has beaten a defamation lawsuit filed against her by half-sister Samantha Markle after a judge on Friday dismissed the case.
The lawsuit, filed in Tampa, Florida, in March 2022, alleged the Duchess of Sussex made “demonstrably false and malicious statements” about her sister in a 2021 CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey. It also claimed Meghan spread defamatory statements about Samantha to the authors of a New York Times best-selling book about Meghan, “Finding Freedom,” which contained a chapter titled “A Problem Like Samantha.”
U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell, however, ruled in favor of the former “Suits” actress. Regarding the Oprah interview, the judge wrote that the duchess’ statements could not be proved false.
“As a reasonable listener would understand it, [Meghan Markle] merely expresses an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-siblings,” Honeywell wrote in the order. “Thus, the Court finds that Defendant’s statement is not objectively verifiable or subject to empirical proof. Plaintiff cannot plausibly disprove Defendant’s opinion of her own childhood.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, were in New York City to accept the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award on Dec. 6, 2022.
AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey
The judge also dismissed claims made over the best-seller, finding that the duchess could not be held liable for a book she did not publish.
Samantha, who has the same biological father as Meghan, had claimed in her lawsuit that the former actress lied about being “an only child” and minimized the extent of her relationship with her half-sister.
“The defamatory implication is that [Samantha] had no relationship whatsoever with her sister Meghan,” the lawsuit reads.
However, Meghan’s attorney defended her client’s comments as subjective accounts of her upbringing.
Samantha’s lawyers have two weeks from the date of the court’s decision to submit an amended complaint, court documents show.
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London — Britain’s Prince Harry was back in the U.K. Monday for an unannounced appearance at the country’s High Court as legal proceedings began in a privacy case in which the prince and six others are suing the Associated Newspapers group, which publishes the Daily Mail tabloid. Harry, the California-based youngest son of King Charles III, is among the high-profile figures, including singer Elton John, who brought the action against the newspaper group claiming “gross breaches of privacy.”
The well-known litigants claim to have “highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by Associated Newspapers,” according to an October 2022 statement from Hamlins, the law firm representing the group.
Britain’s Prince Harry leaves the Royal Courts Of Justice in London, March 27, 2023.
Alberto Pezzali/AP
The alleged breaches of privacy include the hacking of cell phone messages, deceitfully obtaining medical records, bribing police officials, and illegally accessing bank records, the statement said.
Associated Newspapers (not to be confused with the U.S.-based Associated Press news agency) has denied the allegations, calling them “preposterous smears” and “unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims,” according to the BBC.
Harry is already locked in a separate legal battle with Associated Newspapers, having filed a libel suit over an article published by the Mail on Sunday tabloid under the headline, “Revealed: How Harry tried to keep his legal fight over bodyguards secret.” Two years ago he also accepted an apology and damages from the publisher over other articles in a separate libel lawsuit.
Harry’s return to London is believed to be the first by the Duke of Sussex since the funeral of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II in September last year, and it comes amid questions over whether Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will attend King Charles’ coronation ceremony in early May.
U.K. media outlets said Harry was not expected to see his father or his older brother William, the Prince of Wales, during his visit to the U.K. this week. Kensington Palace, the official residence of heir-to-the-throne Prince William, said the prince and his family were away from the London area this week as many schools were out for the Easter holiday.
Speculation about whether Harry and or Meghan will attend the king’s coronation ramped up after news broke that the couple had been asked to vacate their U.K. residence on the grounds of Windsor Castle earlier this month.
The pair gave up their status as senior, “working” royals amid tension with other members of Harry’s family that played out in spectacularly public fashion, through interviews and a tell-all book by Harry claiming racism and mistreatment.
“Nothing was okay,” Harry said of his relationship with his family in a “60 Minutes” interview with Anderson Cooper when his memoir, titled “Spare,” came out.
King Charles III marked his brother Prince Edward’s birthday by giving him a new title. Already the Earl of Wessex and Forfar, Edward was given the title of Duke of Edinburgh, Buckingham Palace announced Friday.
Prince Edward, who turned 59 on Friday, is the youngest of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s children. The Dukedom of Edinburgh was last held by his father, Prince Philip, who was given the title when he married then-Princess Elizabeth, who was then the Duchess of Edinburgh. She then became the queen in 1952.
When Elizabeth died in September 2022, her eldest son Charles immediately became the king. Edward will hold the Duke of Edinburgh title for the rest of his life, the statement from the royal family said.
🎉 Wishing the new Duke of Edinburgh a very Happy Birthday today!
The King has conferred the Dukedom of Edinburgh upon his brother, Prince Edward, on his 59th birthday.
Prince Edward was first given the Earl of Wessex title when he married his wife, Sophie Rhys-Jones, in 1999, and the Earl of Forfar title in 2019 when he turned 55.
Only four other members of the royal family have had the Dukedom of Edinburgh bestowed upon them: Prince Frederick, King George II’s son, who was the first to hold the title (1726), Prince William, King George III’s brother (1764), Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria’s son (1866), and Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband (1947).
Britain’s Prince Edward, King Charles III and Prince William (left to right) arrive for the Committal Service of Queen Elizabeth II at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, Sept. 19, 2022.
Justin Setterfield/AP
Although Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, moved to the U.S. and stepped down as “working” members of the family, they have kept their titles, as has King Charles’ other brother Prince Andrew, despite having many of his formal honors and patronages removed by the family in the wake of his legal battle over alleged sexual abuse.
Prince Harry, who is fifth in line to the throne after his brother, Prince William and William’s children. Harry and Meghan’s children follow him in the line of succession. Harry’s young children Archie and Lilibet have taken the titles of prince and princess, which they have been entitled to since their grandfather ascended the throne late last year.
Eighth in line after the Sussex children is Prince Andrew. Prince Edward, the newly named Duke of Edinburgh, is 13th in line.
Last year, King Charles III made a move to allow his youngest siblings — Prince Edward and Princess Anne — to stand in for him.
Traditionally the four most senior royals and the sovereign’s spouse can fill in for the monarch. When Charles became king, that list included his wife, Camilla, Queen Consort; his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry; his brother, Prince Andrew; and his niece, Princess Beatrice. Charles included his younger sister and brother because both Harry and Andrew have left their roles as senior working royals.
London — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have been asked “to vacate” their home in the U.K., Frogmore Cottage, which was given to them by the late Queen Elizabeth II, a spokesperson from the couple’s Archewell organization said Wednesday. The statement came after a report in a British newspaper said they had been asked to give up the house by King Charles III, and it was being offered to King Charles’ disgraced brother Prince Andrew, who is “resisting” taking up residence in the royal abode, according to the tabloid.
Harry and Meghan, who gave up their full-time royal duties and now live in California with their two children, are arranging to move the rest of their belongings out of the cottage and have them shipped to the U.S., The Sun said.
A spokesperson from Harry and Meghan’s Archewell organization said in a statement to CBS News on Wednesday: “We can confirm The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage.”
Buckingham Palace offered no comment on the story, and generally does not speak about matters the royal family considers private.
Frogmore Cottage sits on the sprawling grounds of Windsor Castle, the primary home of Britain’s monarchs for hundreds of years, just west of London. Harry and Meghan renovated the cottage between 2018 and 2019 at a cost of about 2.4 million pounds (about $2.9 million). The makeover was initially paid for by U.K. taxpayers via the royal family’s “Sovereign Grant,” but the cost was repaid by Prince Harry.
A general view of the exterior of Frogmore Cottage, April 10, 2021, in Windsor, England.
LEON NEAL/Getty
According to The Sun, after paying back the cost of the renovations, Harry made a deal with his family to continue renting the home for “several years.”
After moving to live full-time in California, the couple still kept Frogmore Cottage as their U.K. residence. They celebrated their daughter Lilibet’s first birthday there last year and also used it when they came to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.
But given the acrimony between the young royals and Harry’s family, reportedly strained further by the publication of Harry’s tell-all book “Spare” in January, they have largely kept their distance.
In 2020, Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie, Andrew’s daughter, and her husband stayed at Frogmore Cottage, but the pair have since moved.
Harry and Meghan were given an eviction notice days after the release of Harry’s book, The Sun said, and they have not been offered an alternative U.K. residence by the royal family.
Prince Andrew could reportedly lose his current home on the grounds of the Windsor estate, which he shares with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, because King Charles is planning on slashing his brother’s royal grant, which is effectively an allowance of more than 250,000 pounds per year, The Sun reports.
It remains unclear if Harry and Meghan will be invited to King Charles’ coronation ceremony in May.
