Hugh Grant Takes Aim at Journalist Prince Harry Railed Against in 'Spare'

Prince Harry's account of his family fearing the media has been echoed in a resurfaced clip of Hugh Grant talking about British politics.

The Duke of Sussex told Oprah Winfrey there was an "invisible contract" through which his family invited the media into their lives in exchange for positive coverage.

He also said during the March 2021 conversation that the royals feared criticism in the tabloid press.

The account bears some similarities to an old clip that has gone viral on Twitter of British actor Hugh Grant suggesting U.K. politicians fear the media.

The video was posted alongside a Tweet which read: "Hugh Grant years ago called the UK press a protection racket that scared politicians into silence.

"Prince Harry says that the Royal Family is terrified of the tabloids because they know where all the skeletons are buried With #Spare, Harry has taken away any power over him." The post has been viewed more than186k times and liked nearly 3,000 times.

Both Harry and Grant have for separate reasons also taken aim at the same newspaper executive—Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News UK, publisher of The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.

What Prince Harry Told Oprah Winfrey

The prince said on his CBS prime-time special: "I guess one of the most telling parts—and the saddest parts, I guess—was over 70 members of parliament, female members of parliament, both Conservative and Labour—came out and called out the colonial undertones of articles and headlines written about Meghan.

"Yet no one from my family ever said anything over those three years. And that hurts. But I also am acutely aware of where my family stand and how scared they are of the tabloids turning on them."

"There is what's termed or referred to as the 'invisible contract,'" he said, "behind closed doors between the institution and the tabloids, the UK tabloids."

What Hugh Grant Said About Politicians and the Media

The video clip of Hugh Grant appears to date back to an appearance by him on BBC political debate show Question Time on July 7, 2011, which was the date Rupert Murdoch's media empire announced the closure of the News of the World brand in the wake of phone-hacking allegations.

Grant said: "When they tried to bring Rebekah Brooks in to see them and she refused and they asked again and she refused and they kept asking and the message got through to the select committee if you make me come I will destroy your personal lives.

"And that's what MPs have been. They have been on an individual basis absolutely terrified." He added: "This is a protection racket and it should not be called anything else."

What Prince Harry Said About Rebekah Brooks in Spare

The prince is scathing about Brooks in his book, Spare, in relation to a 2002 News of the World front page which stated that he had been smoking cannabis and suggested he had been to rehab.

Harry said this was "a typical part of my princely charitable work," rather than him checking into rehab for treatment.

He wrote: "Who the hell is this editor? Loathsome toad, I gathered. Everyone who knew her was in full agreement that she was an infected pustule on the a*** of humanity, plus a s*** excuse for a journalist.

"But none of that mattered, because she'd managed to wriggle her way into a position of great power and lately she was focusing all that power upon...me.

"She was hunting the Spare, straight out, and making no apologies for it. She wouldn't stop until my balls were nailed to her office wall."

He added: "Besides, can it possibly be a coincidence that the name of the woman who pretended I went to rehab is a perfect anagram for...Rehabber Kooks? Is the universe not saying something there? Who am I not to listen?"

"Rehabber Kooks" is an anagram of Rebekah Brooks.

Jack Royston is Newsweek's chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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