Prince Harry Says His Fight Against Tabloids Is a 'Central Piece' of Rift with the Royal Family

Prince Harry's mission to hold tabloids accountable differs from the approach taken by the royal family, which he says played a major role in their ongoing rift.

The Duke of Sussex, 39, sat down for a new interview for ITV's documentary Tabloids on Trial, premiering on Thursday, July 25. In a preview released a day before the airing, Harry discussed his reasons for publicly pursuing lawsuits against publications over allegations of phone hacking and other unlawful acts — a contrast from his brother, Prince William, who reportedly quietly received a "very large sum of money" in a settlement from News Group Newspapers (NGN) in 2020 amid a claimed "secret agreement" with the royals.

ITV's Rebecca Barry asked Prince Harry in the clip, "To what extent do you think your determination to fight the tabloids destroyed the relationship with your family?"

"I think that's certainly a central piece to it," the Duke of Sussex replied. "That's a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press."

"I've made it very clear that this is something that needs to be done. It would be nice if we did it as a family," he continued. "I believe that, again, from a service standpoint and when you're in a public role, that these are the things that we should be doing for the greater good. But I'm doing this for my reasons."

When asked about the royal family's decision not to speak out about the issue, Harry said, "I think everything's that played out has shown people what the truth of the matter is. For me, the mission continues. But it has caused part of a rift."

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped back from their roles as working members of the royal family in 2020 and relocated to her home state of California. Shortly after, they announced they would have "no corroboration and zero engagement" with four U.K. tabloids —The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Mirror and The Express — which they claim have “pulled apart” the lives of many individuals.

Meghan, 42, also felt unable to defend herself against media intrusion during her time as a senior royal.

"The go-to position [at the palace] was no comment or to ignore stories, and people actively prevented her from responding to stuff that we knew to be untrue," a source close to the couple told PEOPLE in 2020. "That is what she is taking issue with."

Prince Harry has two ongoing civil cases against the publishers of The Mail and The Sun (both deny unlawful information gathering claims) after the High Court ruled in December that he was hacked by Mirror Group Newspapers. Justice Fancourt stated that 15 of 33 articles at the center of Harry's claim "were the product of phone hacking of his mobile phone or the mobile phones of his associates, or the product of other unlawful information-gathering."

"To have the judge rule in our favor was obviously huge, but for him to go as far as he did — this wasn't just the individual people. This went right up to the top. This was lawyers, this was high executives," Prince Harry said in the interview. "And to be able to achieve that in a trial, that's a monumental victory."

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Prince Harry reflected on the "paranoia, fear, worry, concern, distrust" caused by stories obtained through illegal information practices, including articles about the prince's relationship with his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

"There's a big difference between what interests the public and what is in the public interest," he said. "What happens in my private life between myself and then-girlfriend is exactly that, between us."

He added that, "When you're vindicated, it proves that you weren't being paranoid."

Prince Harry also brought up evidence that his mother, Princess Diana, was being hacked in the 1990s, calling her "probably one of the first people to be hacked."

"And yet, still today, the press — the tabloid press — very much enjoy painting her as being paranoid," he said. "But she wasn't paranoid. She was absolutely right of what was happening to her, and she's not around today to find out the truth."