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Supporters of Brazil's far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro have invaded the country's Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court, in a grim echo of the US Capitol invasion two years ago by fans of former president Donald Trump.

Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in an October election, announced a federal security intervention in Brasilia lasting until January 31 after capital security forces were initially overwhelmed by the invaders on Sunday.

Lula, who was inaugurated on January 1, blamed Bolsonaro for inflaming his supporters after a campaign of baseless allegations about potential election fraud following the end of his rule marked by divisive nationalist populism.

The president's allies also raised questions about how public security forces in the capital Brasilia were so unprepared and easily overwhelmed by rioters who had been planning on social media for days to gather for weekend demonstrations.

"These vandals, who we could call ... fanatical fascists, did what has never been done in the history of this country," said Lula in a press conference during an official trip to Sao Paulo state. "All these people who did this will be found and they will be punished."

The capital invaders left a trail of destruction in their wake, throwing furniture through the smashed windows of the presidential palace, flooding parts of Congress with a sprinkler system and ransacking ceremonial rooms in the Supreme Court.

The sight of thousands of yellow-and-green clad protesters running riot in the capital capped months of tension following the October 30 vote.

Bolsonaro, an acolyte of Trump's who has yet to concede defeat, peddled the false claim that Brazil's electronic voting system was prone to fraud, spawning a violent movement of election deniers.

"This genocidist ... is encouraging this via social media from Miami," Lula said, referring to Bolsonaro. "Everybody knows there are various speeches of the ex-president encouraging this."

Bolsonaro was silent for nearly six hours about the chaos in Brasilia before posting on Twitter that he "repudiates" Lula's accusations against him.

The former president, who has rarely spoken in public since losing the election, also said peaceful demonstrations are part of democracy but invading and damaging public buildings "crosses the line".

He flew to Florida 48 hours before the end of his mandate and was absent from Lula's inauguration.

The violence in Brasilia could amplify the legal risks Bolsonaro faces. It also presents a headache for US authorities as they debate how to handle his stay in Florida.

Prominent Democratic politicians said the United States could no longer grant Bolsonaro "refuge" in the country.

By 6:30pm local time, some three hours after initial reports of the invasion, security forces had managed to retake the capital's most iconic three buildings.

Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha, a longtime Bolsonaro ally facing tough questions after Sunday's security lapses, said on Twitter more than 400 people had been arrested and authorities were working to identify more.

The invasions were condemned by leaders around the world.

US President Joe Biden called the events an "assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power," adding that Brazil's democratic institutions had full US support.

Far from the capital, Brazilian industries were on alert for a fresh round of unrest from Bolsonaro supporters, whose post-election highway blockades have disrupted grains shipments and meatpacking operations in recent months.

State-run oil company Petrobras stepped up security at its refineries, in a cautionary measure after attack threats against assets including Brazil's biggest fuel plant.

Analysts warned the unrest could trigger more volatility in Brazil's financial markets, which have swung sharply in recent weeks on doubts about how Lula will reconcile big spending promises with stretched public finances.

On Saturday, with rumours of a confrontation brewing in Brasilia, Justice Minister Flavio Dino authorised the deployment of the National Public Security Force. On Sunday, he wrote on Twitter, "this absurd attempt to impose the will by force will not prevail."

In Washington in 2021, Trump supporters attacked police, broke through barricades and stormed the Capitol in a failed effort to prevent congressional certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

Trump, who has announced a third bid for the presidency, in 2024, had pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, not to certify the vote, and he continues to claim falsely that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread fraud.

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Prince Harry says he made public his rifts with the British royal family and took on the press to try to help the monarchy and change the media, the latter described by his father King Charles as a "suicide mission".

In the first of a series of TV interviews broadcast on Sunday ahead of the launch of his memoir, Harry accused members of his family of getting into bed with the devil - the tabloid press - to sully him and his wife Meghan to improve their own reputations.

He told Britain's ITV he had fled Britain with his family for California in 2020 "fearing for our lives" and said he no longer recognised his father or his elder brother Prince William, the heir to the throne.

"After many, many years of lies being told about me and my family, there comes a point where, going back to the relationship between certain members of the family and the tabloid press, those certain members have decided to get in the bed with the devil ... to rehabilitate their image," he said.

"The moment that that rehabilitation comes at the detriment of others, me, other members of my family, then that's where I draw the line."

On Thursday, Harry's book Spare mistakenly went on sale in Spain five days before its official release, chronicling not only hugely personal details, such as how he lost his virginity and took illegal drugs, but more intimate private instances of family disharmony.

His elder brother had knocked him over in a brawl, and both siblings begged their father not to marry his second wife, Camilla, now the Queen Consort, the book says.

Commentators say the book has plunged the monarchy into its biggest crisis since the days of the royal soap opera in the 1990s around the break-up of Charles' marriage to his late first wife Princess Diana, the mother of William and Harry.

It all comes just four months after Queen Elizabeth died and Charles acceded to the throne.

In the ITV interview, Harry repeated and elaborated on accusations that he and Meghan have made since they left royal duties; that the royals and their aides not only failed to protect them from a hostile and sometimes racist press, but actively leaked stories about them via anonymous sources.

"The saddest part of that is certain members of my family and the people that work for them are complicit in that conflict," he said, indicating that included both Charles and Camilla.

So far, there has been no comment from Buckingham Palace. Harry said he didn't think his father or brother would read his book.

An unnamed friend of William told the Sunday Times that the Prince of Wales was "burning" with anger, but would not respond "for the good of his family and the country".

Harry told ITV he wanted reconciliation with his family members but said they had shown no interest, giving the impression it was better to keep him and Meghan as villains.

"I genuinely believe, and I hope, that reconciliation between my family and us will have a ripple effect across the entire world. Maybe that's lofty, maybe that's naive," he said.

Harry also said he hoped his multiple legal actions against newspapers would help change the media, saying it was "at the epicentre of so many of the problems across the UK".

"My father said to me that it was probably a suicide mission to try and change the press," he said.

Polls suggest many Britons are becoming bored of the whole royal melodrama, and further revelations are unlikely to shake their views, whether sympathetic to Harry and Meghan, or to those they criticise.

"I love my father. I love my brother. I love my family. I will always do. Nothing of what I've done in this book or otherwise has ever been to ... to harm them or hurt them," he said.

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The Duke of Sussex's first of four primetime interviews about his controversial memoir Spare has aired in full ahead of the book's launch.

Clips previously released by ITV of Harry: The Interview, show him describing feelings of guilt and telling broadcaster Tom Bradby he had cried only once after the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

In a previously released trailer for the interview, Harry says he is publishing his memoirs because he does not know "how staying silent is ever going to make things better".

In another clip, he says he wants to reconcile with his family - but that it cannot happen without "some accountability".

The interview is the first of four broadcast appearances over the coming days, with the duke also speaking to Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes on CBS News on Sunday night, Michael Strahan of Good Morning America on Monday and Stephen Colbert on the Late Show on CBS on Wednesday.

In the interview with Bradby, which aired on ITV at 9pm in the UK (0800 AEDT) on Sunday, Harry speaks about being unable to show any emotion when meeting mourners following the death of his mother in 1997.

He also admits to feeling "some guilt" when walking among the crowds gathered outside Kensington Palace, saying the only time he cried was at his mother's burial.

A string of revelations have already been leaked from the memoir, Spare, which is due to be published on Tuesday.

Harry has come under fire for some of the claims in the book, including that the Prince of Wales physically attacked him and called his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, "difficult" and "abrasive".

The Sun has reported that as well as the first alleged physical attack by his brother in 2019, Harry also claims that a "steaming" and "shouting" William grabbed his shirt as the pair held peace talks with their father in the gardens of Frogmore Cottage in 2021.

Other controversial claims include that William and Kate encouraged him to wear the Nazi uniform that sparked outrage in 2005, and that he killed 25 Taliban while serving in Afghanistan.

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