Prince Harry says William saw ‘red mist’ and wanted him to hit back in new ITV interview

Prince Harry claims he saw “the red mist” in Prince William during an alleged argument between them over his marriage to Meghan Markle.

The Duke of Sussex claims he was physically attacked by his brother and that William wanted him to retaliate and hit him back.

The revelation was made in a newly-released clip from ITV’s forthcoming interview with Harry which details the incident that reportedly took place in 2019.

In the clip, released on Friday morning (6 January), Harry tells ITV’s Tom Bradby: “What was different here was the level of frustration, and I talk about the red mist that I had for so many years, and I saw this red mist in him. He wanted me to hit him back, but I chose not to.”

The duke first recounted the confrontation in his autobiography Spare - an extract from which was leaked by The Guardian on Thursday (5 January).

The paper reported that the alleged confrontation took place at Harry’s London home. In the extract, Harry claims the Prince of Wales grabbed him by the collar and knocked him to the floor, ripping his necklace and shattering a dog bowl under his back, leaving him with “scrapes and bruises”. Harry writes that William urged him to hit back but he refused, and later apologised.

The short clip from the ITV interview, which is due to be aired on Sunday (8 January), also saw Harry addressing the drug use detailed in Spare. Mr Bradby tells the duke: “There’s a fair amount of drugs (in the book). Marijuana, magic mushrooms, cocaine. I mean, that’s going to surprise people.” Harry appears to agree and says it was “important to acknowledge”.

‘I want reconciliation’

The Duke of Sussex also states he wants to reconcile with his family in the interview – something which he says cannot happen without “some accountability”.

“I want reconciliation but, first, there needs to be some accountability”, he says. The duke also states: “The truth, supposedly, at the moment, has been there’s only one side of the story, right? But, there’s two sides to every story.”

In an earlier-released teaser of the ITV interview, Harry says he is publishing his memoirs because he does not know “how staying silent is ever going to make things better”.

The full ITV interview is due to be broadcast two days before publication. In a trailer, Mr Bradby asks: “Wouldn’t your brother say to you, ‘Harry, how could you do this to me after everything? After everything we went through?’ Wouldn’t that be what he would say?” Harry replied: “He would probably say all sorts of different things.”

Mr Bradby, a former royal correspondent and current presenter of ITV News at Ten, is a friend of the Sussexes and has previously interviewed them for a documentary about their 2019 Africa tour.

He told Harry: “Some people will say you’ve railed against invasions of your privacy all your life but the accusation will be here are you invading the privacy of your most nearest and dearest without permission, that will be the accusation.”

Harry answered: “That will be the accusation from people that don’t understand or don’t want to believe that my family have been briefing the press.”

Asked if he will attend his father’s coronation later this year, he said: “There’s a lot that can happen between now and then but the door is always open, the ball is in their court. There is a lot to be discussed and I really hope they are willing to sit down and talk about it.”

Harry said he still believes in the monarchy but when asked if he believes he will play a part in its future he replies: “I don’t know.”

The show, called Harry: The Interview, will be broadcast on ITV1 and ITX at 9pm on Sunday 8 January.