Prince Harry Criticizes Media, Makes Phone Hacking Reference

LONDON – Prince Harry in a series of interviews has criticized the British media, including its handling of the pregnancy of Kate Middleton, and acknowledged letting his family down with a Las Vegas party weekend last year that led to the publication of nude pictures of the third in line to the throne.

Prince Harry recently gave the interviews in Camp Bastion during his deployment in Afghanistan over a period of time, but video and stories were only allowed to appear in British media outlets now that he has finished his stay there. 

In one interview, he even referenced the News Corp. phone hacking scandal. “Because we haven’t got mobile phones out here in Afghanistan, they can’t bug our phones, so they don’t know what we’re saying,” ITV quoted him as saying. “I don’t believe there is any such thing as private life anymore.”

The BBC News Channel aired the interviews Tuesday, and the BBC posted selected videos and stories online. The Telegraph and other British media also made the interviews available or covered them. Prince Harry left Afghanistan on Monday, and news teams were allowed to interview him if they agreed to delay broadcasts and publication, according to the BBC.

In a video on BBC News, the royal commented on his Las Vegas hotel romp by saying: “At the end of the day, I probably let myself down, I let my family down, I let other people down.” He added: “It was probably a classic example of me probably being too much army and not enough prince.”

But Prince Harry also emphasized that “I was in a private area, and there should be a certain amount of privacy that one should expect.”

Asked about the recent news that his brother Prince William and wife were having a baby, Prince Harry said: “I’m thrilled for both of them” and “I can’t wait to be uncle.”

Again, he had some media criticism to share as well. “I think it is very unfair that they were forced to publicize it when they were. But that’s just the media for you.” The royal added that he hoped Middleton would get some protection to have certain privacy as a future mother.

“I didn’t send a letter of congratulation like most of the papers said,” Prince Harry also said. “They are wrong as always.”

The royal at one point even said that he grew up with a dislike of the media. “If there’s a story and something’s been written about me, I want to know what’s being said,” he said. “But all it does is just upset me and anger me that people can get away with writing the stuff they do. Not just about me, but about everything and everybody.”

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai