Anderson Cooper's links to Royal Family and why Harry chose him for US chat
Having forged a career as a CNN heavyweight and a well-respected journalist over his 32-year career, interviewing everyone from Eminem to Nancy Pelosi, Anderson Cooper may have landed his most explosive interview yet.
Ahead of the release of his bombshell autobiography Spare, Prince Harry took part in two high profile interviews. For the UK, it was ITV's Tom Bradby, and across the pond in the US, Anderson Cooper was chose to conduct the chat.
In an gobsmacking trailer for his interview on 60 Minutes, Prince Harry complains that whenever he had attempted to settle things "privately" with his family there had been "briefings and leakings and planting of stories" against himself and Meghan.
"The family motto is never complain, never explain," he says. "But it's just a motto... they will have a conversation with the correspondent and that correspondent will be spoon-fed information and write the story. And at the bottom of it, they will say that they've reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment - but the whole story is Buckingham Palace commenting.
Anderson Cooper has spoken to Prince Harry (CBS News)"When we're being told, 'We can't put a statement out to protect you' and you do it for other members of the family, silence is betrayal."
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Cooper hails from a notable New York City family, the Vanderbilts, who gained prominence during the Gilded age after becoming successful through the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt. The family later expanded into other areas of industry and philanthropy.
Born in 1968 to heiress Gloria Vanderbilt and writer Wyatt Emory Cooper, Cooper went on to earn a BA in political science from Yale University. He went on to work for Channel One News, during which time he travelled to Southeast Asia to self-produce coverage of the political turmoil in Myanmar (Burma).
Following this success, he joined ABC in 1994 and co-anchored overnight news programme World News Now.
Prince Harry opens up about his rift with the royals (CBS News)He left the newsroom for a year to host a prime-time reality show, The Mole, before returning in 2001 as a reporter for CNN. From 2003, he went on to anchor a number of shows, including Anderson Cooper 360° and Anderson Live.
Considering his high profile NYC family, it shouldn't be surprising that Cooper allegedly has royal links dating back to the 1930s. His great-aunt, Thelma Furness, was known to have an affair with Prince Harry's great-great uncle, King Edward VIII.
Viscountess Furness is believed to have been Edward's mistress when he was the Prince of Wales and while she was married to British shipping magnate Marmaduke Furness.
Lady Furness is Anderson Cooper's great aunt (Getty)
Cooper is part of a prominent New York City family (Heidi Gutman/Bravo via Getty Images)Edward later fell in love with American divorcée Wallis Simpson, who he abdicated the throne for in order to marry her.
Furness reportedly introduced Simpson to Edward, which she is said to have deeply regretted what the pair began their romance.
"I’d do it all again. The only thing I would not do again is introduce Wallis Simpson to the Prince of Wales," she is believed to have said towards the end of her life.
It is claimed that Edward gifted a teddy bear to Furness, which was found in her handbag when she died of a heart attack in 1970, according to historian Rachel Threthewey.
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It's not clear whether Cooper or Prince Harry are aware of their shared history.
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