The interview with Prince Harry was expected to generate quite a stir, and it definitely did, as celebrity viewers were left more polorised than ever after the Sunday night show.
The Duke of Sussex was interrogated for 90 minutes by ITV’s Tom Bradby in the run-up to the release of his memoir Spare.
The Prince defended his decision to make his family’s business public, levelling accusation after accusation against members of the legendary royal dynasty.
Little was left untouched by the anchor when he joined the former monarch in California, tackling themes such as the British press, the ‘Meghan vs Kate’ controversy, and race worries.
Audience members who were watching had their phones ready and shared their reactions to the findings.
Kirstie Allsopp, the host of Location, Location, Location, chastised the Prince for demonstrating what she saw as an inability to accept responsibility for anything.
Taking to Twitter, she penned: ‘So far there has been no concessions from Prince Harry that any of this is fault. He & his wife have seemingly done nothing wrong and everything is everyone else’s fault. That’s not how life works. [sic]’
She went on to virtually yell: ‘What work?! Your book, this interview, it isn’t about service or charity this is about you, you, you.’
Echoing her anger at the piece of television, broadcaster Julia Hartley-Brewer wrote: It’s really obvious that Prince Harry is not used to people disagreeing with him or even gently questioning him.
‘He’s a damaged and angry young man, yes, but he also oozes the arrogance and entitlement of his wealth and royal status.’
Activist and author Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu was outraged at Harry’s explanation of race duriung the course of the conversation: ‘Prince Harry you’re WRONG,’ she typed.
‘There’s ZERO difference between racist conscious/unconscious bias & racism. Bias is presence of racism & the actions/words are proof therein [sic].’
However, she did go on to acknowledge where the younger prince was correct: ‘You’re RIGHT that once pointed ou
t it’s the person’s responsibility to rectify/grow from it.’
Jon Sopel shared his thoughts on the evening’s highly anticipated fixture: ‘Please tell me I misheard this: “I hope what I say to my father and brother remains private.”’, while podcast co-host Emily Maitlis also hit her keyboard.
She said: ‘Great interview by @TomBrady. This is fundamentally a tragic story of a kid who lost his mother in the most appalling circumstances – and never found the support to emerge from that darkness. [sic]’
Prior to the airing of the interview – that snubbed the TV listing time of drama series Happy Valley – famed broadcaster Eamonn Holmes joked: ‘9 pm on The Telly ….. Happy Valley or Unhappy Harry ? [sic]’
Author Caitlin Moran weighed in on Sunday night’s events and summed up what she thought were the main talking points: ‘Harry interview in a nutshell: the royal family are so scared of the media they regularly chucked Harry & Meghan under the bus, so they would look good by comparison.
‘And now – given that quitting & moving to the US didn’t stop it – he feels he has nothing to lose by revealing it [sic].’
Throughout the watching, LBC’s James O’Brien posted a string of comments, one of which read: ‘Very impressed by Tom Bradby. If William is watching, I doubt he will find much to criticise about how this interview has been done.
‘And similarly, I think Harry will feel he’s been treated fairly but robustly. That’s quite an achievement for an interviewer in this situation.’
Watch Harry: The Interview on ITVX.
