Prince Harry's rep slams British tabloid claiming he said 'those Brits need to learn a lesson' ahead of 2021 Oprah interview: report

The British tabloid reported that Prince Harry "boasted" that the royal family would find the 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview "quite shocking."

• The Sun published an article about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey. 
• The outlet reported Prince Harry said "those Brits need to learn a lesson" ahead of the interview. 
• A rep for the Duke of Sussex denied the report in a statement to royal author Omid Scobie.

A representative for the Duke of Sussex denied a British tabloid's claim he said "those Brits need to learn a lesson" ahead of his and Meghan Markle's tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. 

British tabloid The Sun shared the claim about Prince Harry, 38, in an article published Saturday. The outlet reported that Prince Harry "boasted" to a friend that the royal family would find his interview with Winfrey – which aired March 7, 2021 – "quite shocking." 

"Those Brits need to learn a lesson," Prince Harry said, according to The Sun. 

But on Sunday, royal author Omid Scobie shared a statement from the Sussex's representatives swatting down the quotes. Scobie shared a screenshot of the statement to his Twitter account.

—Omid Scobie (@scobie) December 4, 2022

"This is a baseless hit piece masquerading as journalism," the statement read. "This story is riddled with inaccuracies, not least of which is a quote erroneously attributed to Prince Harry."

The statement continued: "To accuse a man who spent 10 years serving his country of wanting to teach that same country a lesson is not only an attempted distraction but an unfortunate and predictable tabloid strategy. To put him against his country is shameful and manipulative, especially when Prince Harry has never spoken ill of the British public." 

Representatives for the Duke of Sussex did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. 

Prince Harry and Markle, 41, made headlines in March 2021 after sharing several bombshell claims about the British royal family. The claims included Markle saying she was "silenced" by the royal family and Kate Middleton made her cry ahead of her wedding to Prince Harry. 

Prince Harry told Winfrey that racism was a "large part" of why the couple left the UK and noted there were "concerns" about their son's skin color before he was born. 

The claims about Prince Harry come after the first trailer for his and Markle's Netflix docuseries premiered on December 1. The six-episode series will debut on December 8. Prince Harry's upcoming memoir, "Spare," is expected to hit shelves on January 10.