Prince Harry and Prince William have been arguing for the past 18 months and their relationship is now ‘difficult’, Tom Bradby has said.
The journalist told The Times that reporting on the royals ‘used to be quite a straightforward thing’ when the princes ‘weren’t arguing and life was simple’.
But he said their relationship ‘slowly descended into something that was difficult – personally and publicly – really over the past year and a half’.
Mr Bradby also denied negotiating ITV’s rights for Harry and Meghan Markle’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The journalist has been close to the brothers for a number of years and was chosen to conduct William and Kate’s engagement interview and film the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s trip to South Africa in 2019.
In Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, Harry, when asked about an alleged rift with William, said he and his brother are ‘on different paths’ and have ‘good days’ and ‘bad days’ in their relationship.
Meghan also admitted during the emotional interview that she had found the previous year as a royal ‘hard’.
Mr Bradby said his own mental health issues made him aware of the couple’s state of mind during the tour and that they may have been struggling.
The News at Ten host took a lengthy break in 2018 after suffering what he described as a ‘mental health equivalent of a heart attack’.
He told The Times he ‘was clearly influenced by my own experience and I didn’t think they were in great shape, and so I altered the way I was planning to do the documentary’.
The journalist added: ‘I don’t regret doing that. There may be other times in the future in a whole range of subjects that I will alter my approach if I sense something similar.’
Mr Bradby said he ‘felt like there was an untold story’ behind the duchess’s public image, so he asked her: ‘Are you OK?’
Pressed himself on whether the documentary, and the glimpse it gave into the royal rift that followed, had been stressful, he added: ‘Well, it used to be quite a straightforward thing, right, because they weren’t arguing and life was simple.
‘And then it just slowly descended into something that was difficult – personally and publicly – really over the past year and a half.’
Mr Bradby presented ITV’s coverage of their grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral last month.
The two brothers were seen speaking to each other outside St George’s Chapel after the service.
He commented as they walked away: ‘Funerals are a time of reconciliation and that a sight, let’s be honest, that’s many wanted to see. Not least the family itself.’
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