Prince Harry Accuses Royal Family of ‘Leaking and Planting’ Stories Designed to Smear Him and Meghan Markle

Hot off the tail of an explosive Netflix docu-series, Prince Harry is speaking out once again about his feelings toward the royal family ahead of the release of his memoir, Spare.

Speaking with CNN anchor and 60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper for CBS News, Harry offered an inside look at the “betrayal” he felt from his extended family.

In an exclusive clip released by 60 Minutes on Monday, Cooper pressed the prince on his decision to be so public about the familial rift.

“One of the criticisms that you’ve received is that, ‘Well, okay, fine, you wanna move to California? You want to step back from the institutional role? Why be so public?’ You say you tried to do this privately,” Cooper said.

“And every single time I’ve tried to do it privately, there have been briefings and leaking and planting of stories against me and my wife,” Harry said bluntly.

“You know, the family motto is ‘Never complain, never explain,’ but it’s just a motto, and it doesn’t really hold,” he added.

“There’s a lot of complaining and a lot of explaining,” Cooper said.

“Endless,” Harry agreed.

The prince said most of this was done through leaks from the royal family to newspapers and magazines.

“Through leaks — They will feed or have a conversation with the correspondent, and that correspondent will literally be spoon-fed information and write the story. Then, at the bottom of it, they’ll say that they’ve reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment,” Harry explained.

“But the whole story is Buckingham Palace commenting,” he added.

“So when we are being told for the last six years, we can’t put a statement out to protect you, but that you do it for other members of the family, there becomes a point when silence is betrayal,” he concluded.

Prince Harry’s memoir Spare is set to release on January 10th and is anticipated to further the divide between him and senior members of the royal family.

The full interview will air this coming Sunday.

Watch above via 60 Minutes.