Prince Harry's 'public therapy' deepened royal rift, says expert

Prince Harry may have unintentionally widened the rift with his family by going public with personal grievances, says conflict expert Julie Cobalt.

After stepping back from royal duties in 2020 with Meghan Markle, Harry opened up about family tensions in interviews and his explosive memoir Spare. 

But according to Cobalt, this move may have hurt more than helped. “Publicly criticising your family virtually guarantees defensiveness and distance,” she told HELLO! Magazine.

While Harry said Spare was part of his “mental health journey,” the expert believes if reconciliation was the goal, he should have taken a different route, like working with a mediator instead of airing it all publicly.

She warned that going public means losing control of the narrative: “You risk misinterpretation. Quotes out of context can inflame things further.”

Spare includes claims of: A physical altercation with Prince William, struggles with King Charles, shade thrown at Queen Camilla over media leaks.

Despite all this, Harry recently told BBC America he still wants to reconcile with his family, but said his father isn’t speaking to him and he "can't imagine bringing his kids to the UK right now.”

Buckingham Palace responded shortly after, releasing a rare statement: “These issues have been examined repeatedly by the courts… with the same conclusion each time.”

RELATED: Prince Harry makes quiet power move amid claims he's Meghan Markle's 'spare'