The British media has been obsessively theorizing about Prince Harry’s potential media availability and TV interviews for months now. It’s more than likely that Harry is contractually obligated to give a few interviews to promote his memoir, Spare, which comes out on January 10. Personally, I believe the Windsors and the British media should be worried, as they clearly are. Meghan’s not the one spilling royal secrets, it’s Harry. Harry’s quotes about the Windsors and the media are always noteworthy and newsworthy. Ever since QEII’s funeral bullsh-t, I’ve thought “forget about what he writes in the memoir and worry about what he’ll say in the interviews promoting Spare.” Now the Mail on Sunday claims that Harry has agreed to be interviewed by Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes.
We’ve had the Oprah show and the six-part Netflix series – now Prince Harry is taking part in yet another tell-all interview as he launches the publicity blitz for his explosive new memoir. It’s feared he will take aim again at the Royal Family in what The Mail on Sunday understands will be a wide-ranging interview with leading US television anchor Anderson Cooper days before the book is launched.
The interview is expected to be broadcast on Mr Cooper’s 60 Minutes show on TV network CBS on Sunday, January 8, two days before the memoir is released in bookshops.
Mr Cooper, 55 – who is also a star of the CNN network – has campaigned to promote better mental health and hosts a podcast called All There Is. He has spoken about losing his brother Carter to suicide. The 23-year-old fell to his death from the family’s 14th-floor Manhattan apartment in 1988. Mr Cooper also has war experience, having reported from Afghanistan, where Harry completed two tours of duty.
A television source said: ‘Mr Cooper has won Harry’s trust. This would be a coup for Mr Cooper and fits well with Harry’s campaign to promote mental health. It is a prime-time Sunday show which hosts foreign leaders and presidents. It’s the one that all the politicians and decision-makers watch.’ Recently 60 Minutes featured exclusive interviews with US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron.
It is a good fit and I could see AC being fair but not sycophantic towards Harry. Coop isn’t going to just launch soft-ball questions at Harry, he’ll get into some nitty-gritty stuff about who said what to whom, what was really said and done to Harry at his grandmother’s funeral, etc. I also think it seems like Harry would believe that 60 Minutes is a good fit for him – as much as I want to see him do another magazine-show special, I get why he would simply want the 60 Minutes branding here. If this is true, it also means that Harry and Meghan have given two big exclusives to CBS – the first was their Oprah special.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Anderson Cooper attend the 12th Annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute on December 9, 2018 at The Museum of Natural History in New York, New York, USA. photo by Robin Platzer/ Twin Images/ Avalon,Image: 534854801, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Robin Platzer/Twin Images / Twin Images / Avalon
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex follows behind The Queen’s funeral cortege borne on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy as it leaves Westminster Abbey on September 19, 2022 in London, England. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born in Bruton Street, Mayfair, London on 21 April 1926. She married Prince Philip in 1947 and ascended the throne of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth on 6 February 1952 after the death of her Father, King George VI. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III.,Image: 724154654, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jeff Spicer / Avalon
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- Prince William, Prince Harry and King Charles III The State Funeral of Her Majesty The Queen, Service, Westminster Abbey, London, UK – 19 Sep 2022,Image: 724167805, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Tim Rooke/Shutterstock / Avalon
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- WINDSOR, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives at Windsor Castle on September 19, 2022 in Windsor, England. The committal service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, took place following the state funeral at Westminster Abbey. A private burial in The King George VI Memorial Chapel followed. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III.,Image: 724206159, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Leon Neal / Avalon
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- Anderson Cooper at the 16th Annual CNN Heroes: An All Star Tribute at the American Museum of Natural History on December 11, 2022 in New York city.,Image: 744081128, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Darla Khazei / Avalon
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- King Charles, Camilla, Queen Consort, Prince William, Catherine Princess of Wales, Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex on a walkabout to meet members of the public at Windsor Castle in Berkshire following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Featuring: Prince Harry Where: Windsor, England, United Kingdom When: 10 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- King Charles, Camilla, Queen Consort, Prince William, Catherine Princess of Wales, Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex on a walkabout to meet members of the public at Windsor Castle in Berkshire following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Featuring: Prince Harry, Meghan Duchess of Sussex Where: Windsor, England, United Kingdom When: 10 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- Ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 14 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
Cooper s family has a royal connection. His great aunt Thelma furness was mistress to Edward prince of Wales until she was displaced by Wallis simpson.
Anderson is a Vanderbilt. American royalty. And his mother was the glamorous fashion designer, Gloria Vanderbilt. If anyone could get Harry’s upbringing, it would be Anderson.
Yes, AC is from the wealthy and well-connected Vanderbilt family. It’s a sort of American aristocracy-adjacent family perhaps giving AC a better understanding of H’s situation. A good fit for an interview. And I hope Kaiser is correct on looking for bombs from the interview as opposed to the book.
Yeah, especially since the memoir was written before the Queen died and so much crap happened to H&M during the funeral. He may drop some more truth bombs.
He is also familiar with American “aristocracy”. His mother was Gloria Vanderbilt. She was the subject of a famous child custody case in the thirties so she knew childhood trauma. Many years ago, I read a book about the case called, Little Gloria, Happy At Last. That was a tabloid headline at the time. So there’s a tabloid connection too. Cooper couldn’t be more perfect for this.
Philip’s BIL Gottfried was part of that trial. Before his marriage to Phil’s sister margarita, he was briefly engaged to Gloria sr. He was called to testify as to her behavior. Margarita flew with him to nyc for the testimony.
Anderson and Harry didn’t really have the same upbringing or lifestyle even if Anderson himself is a Vanderbilt. The money is mostly gone and I think Gloria’s will amounted to 5 million or something. That’s not pennies but hardly the Vanderbilt billions they used to have. Yes Anderson went to private school and then Yale but I doubt he was living in the lap of luxury like his ancestors did.
I think Anderson is a great choice and a good fit however.
Yes, that is true, but I believe he was close to his mother in her later years, and she shared a great deal with him about her memories of the family. And I do think a lot of her money she made herself from her fashion brand. She was a very interesting woman.
The fortune of the families is perhaps not comparable. However, AC grew up rich. Well-educated. With connections to old and new money. The majority of Americans do not have this background.
I like Gloria and think she was a very interesting woman. I just wanted to make it clear that Harry and Anderson aren’t super alike and while they share similarities yes, they might not be able to relate to each other as much as people think. Or at least, at first.
Gloria Vanderbilt’s net worth upon her death was 200 million.
I think a good connection between Harry and AC is that they grew up with with famous family but still entered the real world to make a name for themselves through hard work.
@art maven: No she wasn’t. That’s what people thought. Her will came out after her death and it was worth around 5 million or so. Again she wasn’t broke but definitely not near 200 million.
Some additional fun facts: Gloria Vanderbilt’s father died when she was a toddler. Her parents were married when her mother was 18, and her father 42. She was left a trust fund of several million dollars (one of the issues in the custody suit), considerable, though just a slice of the overall Vanderbilt fortune. However, after about age 10 she was raised by her father’s sister Gertrude. Gertrude was married to Henry Paine Whitney, part of another very wealthy and prominent family, so still a very luxurious and privileged upbringing for Gloria. She had a complicated private life, with three marriages (two to high profile non “society” husbands) and two children before she married Anderson and Carter’s father.
Her aunt Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was interesting in her own right. She was a sculptor and overall patron of the arts, When the Met declined her proposed donation of her collection of works of American modern art, she established her own museum, the Whitney.
As @ML notes, AC’s background is as atypical for most Americans as Harry’s is for most Britons. Whatever else they may or may not have in common, they both grew up in the rarefied world of aristocracy and privilege, and are familiar with the messy family complications that has often entailed.
Also, Gloria Vanderbilt’s mother (also named Gloria) and her sister Thelma Furness, were identical twins. (They have an interesting family background of their own.)
In case of interest, the vast majority of generational wealth is not passed down through wills, but through trusts. This is done for tax, privacy and other reasons. That GV’s will was tagged at $5M says nothing about her net worth or what kind of generational wealth AC may have access to.
Windyriver, Gertrude Whitney fought Gloria’s mother for custody, saying she could provide a better upbringing than her hard partying and economically insecure mother. This was the subject matter of the book, Little Gloria, Happy At Last. The custody battle and subsequent trial became a tabloid sensation at a time when the New York tabloid culture was just as aggressive as that of GB today. As I recall, the custody of the trust fund was at issue as well.
Harry and Anderson are more alike than you think. Both lost a parent at a young age (Anderson’s father died when Anderson was 11, Harry was 12 when Diana died) and Anderson also lost a brother to suicide. Anderson went to a really good private school in NYC, Dalton, and also went to Yale. Harry went to Eton. And while Anderson may not have been raised in palaces and the lap of luxury, he still is a Vanderbilt and met all sorts of interesting and famous people through his mom at a young age. Harry also met all sorts of interesting and famous people due to being royalty. They both were children of very famous dynasties with interesting histories and grew up the children of famous people. That’s something most of us can’t relate to.
AC also has a through line of loss in his life, which is what he explores in his own recent memoir. His dad when he was 10, his brother to suicide when he was 21, and recently his mom, who he was very close to. So I think that played a part in H saying yes to this interview. Agree with you all that this sounds like a good pairing.
Anderson Cooper and Stephen Colbert did an interview talking about grief and everyone should watch it. Colbert also experienced loss when his father and some of his brothers died in a plane crash when Colbert was 10.
Anderson Cooper is probably one of the few Americans who understands growing up in the spotlight and experiencing loss at a young age.
Agreed, Anderson is such a good fit for an interview with Harry.
^^ I agree with @AmelieOriginal, @Steph, @Nicki, @WindyRiver, et al. There are a lot of commonalities of the human experience that Harry and Anderson share — grief and loss at young ages; mental health concerns; the desire to strike out on their own to do something worthwhile; and to become independent of the upper-class worlds they grew up in, etc.
Thanks to those who have pointed out how they both lost a parent around the same age. They are also both the younger of two brothers. Of course, as already noted, Anderson experienced even more tragedy when his brother committed suicide. As a consequence, Anderson, similar to Harry, has spoken about the need he felt to hold in and contain his emotions publicly, as a way of coping.
One of the things that is different about their upbringings is that as a child, Anderson was not directly and constantly subjected to the intensely intrusive media spotlight Harry endured growing up. Albeit that Anderson’s mother was famous, thus he does know a lot about the glare of the media spotlight. In fact, that’s another thing H&A share: loving bonds with lively, beautiful, glamorous, generous, caring mothers who had traumatic ‘poor little rich girl’ childhoods.
As well, Anderson always yearned to have children, but he never thought it would happen. A few years ago, when he was taking care of his mother, in the knowledge that she did not have long to live, he began to make steps toward exploring the possibility of having a child via surrogacy. As we know, he now has two beautiful boys who are young toddlers. So this is more that A shares with H — finally having families of their own, and being wonderful, happy Dads! 💞
I can’t wait.
So glad he chose 60 Minutes. I think it’s important to balance the interviews with Oprah and others with a programme of the gravitas of a long running, extremely well respected, international news programme. Anderson is empathetic but also a newsman. It exemplifies and conforms the seriousness of the subject matter which Harry and Meghan are elevating. Totally looking forward to this.
This hasn’t been confirmed. It’s just speculation at this point.
Confirmed or no if this is the advice he is getting he should take it. There is a larger story here about the use of power, white supremacy and the treatment of women that keeps getting bogged down in tabloid-ism and celebrity. An interview like this would assist in elevating the discussion, I hope.
This book is mainly going to be about Harry. Whoever interviews Harry is not going to be broaching deep topics like white supremacy, sexism etc. and certainly not Anderson who is a member of the NY social elite.
Anderson is also gay. I doubt whether he has that much cachet with the New York social registry, although his mother did to the day of her death. I see him skirting these issues if mentioned, that is, not delving into them in greater detail.
He also covered Charles and Camilla’s wedding.
AC has been handed question s he can ask , he can’t deviate, so not really a journalist . Just stooping down to their level quite disgusting. Those 2 in CA traitors to UK and the real royals.
Yup. Anderson Cooper was on my list of possibilities. Makes sense. I hope he gets the scoop on everything that happened during the funeral.
Good. Looking forward to it. And love knowing that the racists on Shutter Island are going to be freaking out till their heads explode.
Cue some kind of interview that they’ll pull together for Willy to do around the same time.
They’ll definitely be hyping something for William. Aren’t they still usually off around this time?
I could see the BM trying to goad William into “clapping back” at his brother, but it’s all hype. The only media we’ve seen from W for the last few years are sycophantic write ups with a pull quote and a couple podcasts. He’s not even doing morning chat shows! I think he’s not well- prepared and lacks in both self-awareness and self-control. Not to mention dull.
If he was ready for prime time, the keens would have tried to have a little media availability during their sad little Boston trip. Even an interview in the Boston globe or local tv to try to generate some buzz. They didn’t even try to pop in to any of the New York late shows to promote their first visit in 8 years.
Plus, there’s the awkward issue of whether he does the interview solo, or with Kate, but then they have to pretend that they still live in the same house, and the the contrast between how Harry looks at his wife when she speaks and his brother is… pretty marked, let’s just say that. I’m all for having Will try to survive an interview with Gayle King, but I’m betting it wouldn’t be pretty.
I mean this seems more plausible than what the British press was saying last week. If it’s not 60 minutes it will probably CBS Sunday Morning. I’ve seen American royalists obsessing over this new speculation because they believe that Anderson would be hard hitting and perhaps end up making the Royal Family look good. But I think whatever Anderson is able bring out of Harry would only serve to make the Royal Family look worse. I’m with Kaiser hopefully Harry will be asked about the family’s ill treatment of him and Meghan after the Queen died.
Yeah Harry’s not sitting on exculpatory information about the royals. Anything he’s holding back would only make the royals look worse in my opinion.
If this turns out to be true (I never trust the Mail without corroboration), and you want to watch this but don’t have a live TV streaming service or an antenna for over the air broadcast so you don’t have access to CBS, I’m pleased to inform you that Paramount+ gives you access to live CBS programming.
CBS also uploads a lot of 60 minutes interview on its website.
Harry did not let me down in the Netflix show – he validated what the squad has been saying for years.
I’ve been sitting on this website for years to create content for the “way back machine” so that there’s no doubt that Diana was a completely sane person, in some horrible circumstances, but Haz reached more people than I ever could with just a couple of sentences and I’m very grateful.
What’s the way back machine?
@steph internet/Netscape archive. Most Diana info on the web can be found in the way back machine. Everything gets backed up there eventually.
Thanks!
Why give another interview? His book opens in January, the Netflix doc just aired.
I’m assuming the book is already a best seller, pre-ordered on Amazon.
Most likely because he is contractually obligated to do some level of press to promote the book.
And because the books is going to be different to the docuseries. It’s going to be about his life as a whole and not just about meeting Meghan and leaving the Royal Family.
Especially for memoirs, doing press to try to get more people interested in the book is part of the deal. There are going to be people whose interest was piqued by the Netflix series who won’t necessarily know when the book is out.
Plus, I think we can pretty much count on the British media to throw a lot of dreck at them between now and then, so there will be no dearth of content that H can basically hold up as exhibit A of “This is Why We Left”. And, as Amy says, it’s probably going to be about his life as a whole, including childhood.
The British rags and media won’t like him getting time and validation with a reputable, serious and respected news show/agency. It flies against the “celebrity” narrative they have tried to craft against Prince Harry since he decided to leave.
As said above, I think Anderson is a good choice. He’s a more “neutral” source aka he isn’t friends with Harry (as far as I know) nor has he had first hand experience like Oprah did so hopefully he’ll be asking lots of questions so Harry can explain and clarify.
That being said it’s the Mail so I will wait for official confirmation.
Sadly, interviews done by male correspondents still seem to get taken more seriously so this is a good move for Harry.
60 Minutes is a good brand to be seen with. (And Harry racks up connections with another elite American family, the Vanderbilts.)
I hope the show researchers are reading through here…. We got questions!
If this is true, I think its a good fit. Anderson is a good interviewer and isn’t going to be looking for a cheap shot.
@becks; back when I watched CNN a long time ago, I saw an interview done by AC. He was snarky as all gettout, and finished off with a “gotcha” comment. That was my impression and I was not impressed. Hopefully he has matured and has had an attitude adjustment since that time. Haven’t watched anything he has done in a long time.
He has matured. Some of his reporting on Ukraine has been thoughtful and sensitive.
The timing of this interview after just after Clarkson, although I’m sure it was scheduled months or weeks in advance, is superb.
Bockbockbockbock. Whats that sound? It’s the chickens coming home to roost.
I was hoping they would do more round table tour like Michelle Obama is doing to promote her book. I will be honest with you I am not impressed with the Sussex’s PR game. You can’t be this soft when you have a whole country and media trying to vilify you and twist your words. I think their PR strategy is not doing a good enough job to fight against the narrative.
The fact they’re talking at all and as much as they are is still roiling the royal family who wants them to go away quietly. I’ll be interested to see where we are this time next year.
I think they know what they’re doing, particularly when it comes to making sure they aren’t sued for libel. Meghan has receipts on Kate’s abusive behavior, she will not release those receipts because it would lead to a copyright infringement lawsuit from Kate/KP. But she made it clear she has those receipts, etc.
What do you think they should do?
Clarkson can write op-eds, so can Piers. It only gets into lawsuits when they say something that is a lie and can be seen as defamation.
If they commented on every thing that people say about them that hate them, they would not get anything done. Let their work speak and they can choose what if anything they want to deal with. Meghan is still dealing with that stupid lawsuit from Samantha. Harry has the bigger one going on. And Harry is still fighting to pay for his own freaking security.
I like their approach. In general they let their work speak for itself and reveal their perspective on themes more broadly than just the destructive antics of the RF or the Markles. As PH said, their stand against the BM is about much more than their objections to their personal experience with the tabloids. They want the media to be held accountable for the benefit of all. Archetypes allowed Meghan to gather perspectives on a number of obstacles that stigmatize women and hold them back. That is much more impactful than arguing with her inlaws directly in public. H&M hit back carefully, when it serves their purpose.
Well, they’re not the burn the house down types. The that would end up being their only focus. I’ve always thought they are just trying to be decent humanitarians and at the end of the day, feel like they have done some good in the world by helping their fellow human beings.
H doing a serious interview with AC also helps refute the narrative that he’s some kind of idiot puppet, controlled by his wife. It wouldn’t surprise me if the tabloids ignore it like they ignored The Me You Can’t See.
Agree. It’s also a shame that The Me You Can’t See has somehow become buried. I thought it was very good. Hopefully, more is coming. I think AC is now doing something around trauma or exploring his own trauma.
Fun fact: Harry and Anderson are 9th cousins, twice remove, so I read online.
“Mr. Cooper”, who’s the source, a 60 Minutes intern?
Anderson is a serious journalist and a good interviewer, if this information is true, it’s a good move for Harry. I hope to hear him on NPR and also an interview on PBS with Christine Annanpour.
I doubt even an intern would call Anderson “Mr. Cooper” here. Dollars to doughnuts, that source is British and has never set foot in an American tv studio.
I agree that Anderson Cooper would be a good choice. AC’s a good interviewer. People take him seriously.
Harry & AC have a lot in common: beautiful, famous, talented mothers whom they love; tragic losses in childhood, etc.
It’ll be a good interview.
I think I’ll wait until CNN announces something about this. I find it really difficult to believe anyone told the Daily Fail anything, unless someone wanted to know if it would leak. Now, that could be deliberate.
I hope if H does an interview, it is Anderson Cooper or someone like him. It gives everything more gravitas.
Yep. “A television source” and “this WOULD be a coup for Mr. Cooper.” Anonymous source, conditional tense. I’ll believe it when CNN or Harry’s spokesperson announces it. Right now, it’s the Daily Heil, which lies and lies and lies.
If this DOES come to pass, watch the BM put together a Master Mix of AC’s New Year’s Eve experiences over the years, to try to undercut HIM, as well.
I just saw a post elsewhere saying that the RR had originally started writing lies about Meghan in an effort to distract attention away from all the bad press around Andrew.
Honestly, what next will someone say?
It does sound stupid enough to make sense to Team Monarchy tho.
How odd.
HeyKay, well, they certainly don’t want to say they did it to cover for Fails affair!!!!! It looks like someone is looking for a life raft, doesn’t it.
Anderson Cooper and Stephen Colbert had a very good conversation regarding the loss of their parents. I think Anderson would be a good choice, but I wasn’t very impressed with his coverage and work during the Obama years. I have no doubt he is a really recent person, but he is also a product of his upbringing, as we all are.
“he’ll get into some nitty-gritty stuff about who said what to whom, what was really said and done to Harry at his grandmother’s funeral, etc”
I don’t think he will, you know. I’m thinking of his other 60 minutes interviews and the one I think it might be closest to is the one he did with Stephen Colbert, who also had a childhood tragedy. It was a more thematic discussion, about grief and recovery which is kind of the theme of Harry’s book.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not doing 60 minutes and goes on Anderson’s podcast instead. It might give a bit of a breather after tv appearances especially given the new series dropping on dec 31