Prince Harry is expressing hope of healing his rift with the royal family.
In an interview with U.K. station ITV, broadcast Jan. 8, journalist Tom Bradby told the Duke of Sussex people might feel he has destroyed any chance of reconciling with his loved ones in England by publishing his new tell-all memoir, Spare. In the book, Harry reveals details about his past, his and Meghan Markle's 2020 exit as working members of the monarchy and their conflicts with the royal family.
Harry said he "100 percent" believes there is a chance of reconciliation. However, he said his family has "shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile up until this point."
The 38-year-old added, "I'm not sure how honesty is burning bridges. You know, silence only allows the abuser to abuse. Right? So I don't know how staying silent is ever gonna make things better."
The royal family has declined to comment on the book or other remarks Harry has made about them in the press.
"Though I would like to have reconciliation, I would like accountability," Harry said. "I've managed to make peace over this time with a lot of things that have happened. But that doesn't mean that I'm just gonna let it go."
The duke said, "Forgiveness is 100 percent a possibility because I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back. At the moment, I don't recognize them, as much as they probably don't recognize me."
He and Meghan had last visited his native England in September to attend Queen Elizabeth II's funeral. He and brother Prince William, who he accuses in his book of attacking him physically during an argument, put on a united front as they and their wives joined the siblings' dad King Charles III and other family members at memorial events.
"I love my father. I love my brother. I love my family. I...will always do," Harry said in the ITV interview. "Nothing of what I've done in this book or otherwise has ever been [with] any intention to harm them or hurt them."
When Bradby pointed out what people might accuse Harry of invading his family's privacy with his memoir, the duke responded, "That'll be the accusation from the people that don't understand, or don't want to believe that my family have been briefing the press solidly for well over a decade."
In the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, released in December, and in a recent interview with Anderson Cooper—which also airs Jan. 8, the duke accuses the royal communications teams of leaking and planting stories about him and his wife in the media.
He reiterated his accusations to ITV, saying that he has never had a problem with the monarchy, but rather with "the press and the sick relationship that's evolved between it and the palace."
He maintained that "certain members have decided to get in the bed with the devil...to rehabilitate their image," adding, "The moment that that rehabilitation comes at the detriment of others—me, other members of my family, then that's where I draw the line."
Harry's book, whose Spanish-language version was accidentally released last week and then pulled back ahead of the publication's official Jan. 10 release date, has shocked many people on social media with regard to how revealing it is, and has also made some question its timing. For the duke, the time was right.
"Thirty-eight years, 38 years of having my story told by so many different people with intentional spin and distortion," he told Bradby, "felt like a good time to own my story and be able to tell it for myself."