Prince Harry Speaks of Royal Healing as Bullying Accusation Aide Gets Honor

Prince Harry said "I want a family, not an institution" and added that "they feel as though it's better to keep us somehow as the villains," in promo clips for an upcoming interview.

The Duke of Sussex is promoting memoir Spare, due for release on January 10, and told ITV journalist and friend Tom Bradby: "They've shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile."

It was unclear whether his use of the word "they" referred to family members or the palace but he added: "I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back."

Harry's comments may raise eyebrows in light of a run of interviews criticizing both the palace and his family, starting with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

As recently as April, Harry swerved a question on whether he missed his father and brother when interviewed by Hoda Kotb for Today at the Invictus Games.

"Look...I mean...at the moment, I'm here focused on these guys [at the Invictus Games] and these families and giving everything I can, 120 percent to them to make sure that they have the experience of a lifetime. That's my focus here," the duke said.

He then turned the conversation to his children Archie and Lilibet, adding: "And when I leave here, I go back, and my focus is my family, who I miss massively. Of course I do. They're two little people."

However, if ever there was a sign from the monarchy that Harry and Meghan's perspective on royal life has not found a sympathetic ear it is the decision by King Charles III to hand an honor to former Kensington Palace communications secretary Jason Knauf.

The former courtier is most famous for accusing Meghan Markle of bullying two PAs out of the royal household, an allegation he put on the record in an email to Prince William's private secretary Simon Case in October 2018.

He also made public a trove of Meghan's private texts and emails by handing them to the Court of Appeal during her prolonged lawsuit with The Mail on Sunday. The saga bounced her into apologizing to the court and the couple's Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan made clear how big an impact it had on her.

In footage shot as she discovered the messages had been leaked, she said: "How do we deal with that? Like...How on earth..."

An aide can be heard saying, "He works for his brother," before Meghan adds: "It's your brother. I'm not going to say anything about your brother, but it's so obvious."

Knauf originally worked for Meghan, Harry, Prince William and Kate Middleton before quitting his role as communications secretary and going to work at William and Kate's charity, The Royal Foundation.

He quit that job too to become a leadership fellow at Conservation International in America, but he remains a trustee William's Earthshot Prize climate awards.

Most recipients of U.K. honors are chosen by the government of the day, not the royal family, but the king can also chose to honor individuals by adding them to the Royal Victorian Order.

It was under this honors list that Knauf was made a lieutenant, demonstrating for the first time that the Texan has the support not only of Prince William but also Charles.

Combined with the fact Charles did not mention Harry and Meghan in his Christmas address, the door appears to be rapidly closing on prospects for a royal peace.