Prince Harry’s autobiography ‘Spare’, which was due for release on January 10, was leaked on Thursday when a Spanish-language version of the memoir went on sale by mistake.
Although the book was hastily withdrawn from the shelves in Spain, some copies were obtained by the media and key revelations were made public.
Here are some of the key claims and revelations made by Prince Harry in the memoir:
Harry claims William physically assaulted him
Prince Harry has claimed this in his book he was physically “assaulted” During an argument during a strain in their relationship caused by her older brother Prince William’s marriage to Meghan Markle in 2019.
“He grabbed me by the collar, tore off my necklace, and he threw me on the floor. I landed on the dog bowl, which cracked down my back, the pieces were cutting me,” The Guardian quoted Harry’s book as saying. were cutting.”
Brothers used to have physical fights when they were younger
During the brothers’ fight in 2019, Harry said that William urged him to back down, citing a feud they had as children.
However, Harry refuses and William leaves remorsefully and apologetically, before returning.
The brothers call each other “Willie” and “Harold”.
Harry wrote in his memoir that after the fight he handed his brother a glass of water and said, “Willie, I can’t talk to you when you’re like this.”
“I didn’t attack you, Harold,” replied William – whom Harry calls “Willie” – using a nickname for his brother, whose birth name is Henry.
William called Meghan “difficult” and “rude”
Harry wrote that during a disagreement in the kitchen of their London home in 2019, William called his wife Meghan Markle “difficult,” “rude” and “impudent” before shoving her to the ground as the pair argued doing.
Harry tells her that he was parroting the press story about his wife.
Prince Harry says he killed 25 people in Afghanistan
Prince Harry also admitted to killing 25 people during his time as an Apache helicopter pilot in Afghanistan. The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex served two tours of duty against the Taliban, first in 2007-2008 as an forward air controller in airstrikes, then in 2012-2013 flying an attack helicopter.
He said he was neither proud nor ashamed of doing so and described eliminating goals as like removing “chess pieces” from a board.
‘Took cocaine but didn’t like it’
Prince Harry also admits in his new memoir to taking cocaine at age 17, but says “it wasn’t a lot of fun.” , when he was found to be underage drinking and smoking marijuana.
At the time, the revelations earned him the nickname “Harry Pothead” in the British tabloids, but Charles’ actions were widely praised as responsible parenting.
Harry told his doctor about the fight before telling Meghan
Following the incident of the fight, Harry said William later returned to the scene, “remorseful, and apologetic” and asked not to tell Meghan that he had “attacked” her.
Harry wrote that he did not tell his wife immediately, but instead called a therapist. However, Meghan noticed “bruises and scratches”, which forced her to tell Harry about the attack.
Harry claims William and Kate encouraged him to wear Nazi uniform
Harry was 20 when the Sun newspaper published a front-page photo of him dressed as a Nazi soldier with a red armband with a large swastika.
The photo was taken in 2005 at a costume party with a “Native and Colonial” theme, where William was also a guest and was dressed in a homemade lion costume.
In his memoir, he claimed he phoned William and Kate to ask whether they should wear pilot uniforms or Nazi uniforms for the fancy dress party and the couple later said yes, US website Page Six reported. And when he went home and tried it out for them, they both laughed.
heir and ‘spare’
The book also details Harry’s decades of disillusionment with the privileged, scrutinized and constrained royal life. In it he recalled the alleged words of his father, then Prince Charles, to his mother, Princess Diana, on the day of her birth, alluding to the book’s title, “Wonderful! Now you’ve given me an heir and an extra one – My work is done.”
While William was destined to be king from birth, Harry, who is fifth in line to the throne behind his brother and William’s three children, has often appeared to struggle with the more ambivalent role of “extra”.
Harry reveals the moment he learned of Diana’s death
In his memoir, Harry also wrote about the death of his mother, Diana, in a car crash. He said that King Charles sat at the end of his bed at Balmoral Castle and said to him, “My dear son, mother has had a car accident.”
The duke claimed that his father did not hug him and that he “felt like a politician” afterwards as he greeted members of the public in the wake of his death, according to The Sun.
Harry and William ‘begged’ Charles not to marry Camilla
Harry claimed he and Prince William told Charles they would welcome the now-Queen Consort into the family on the condition that he would not marry her and “begged” him not to do so. The duke alleges that his father did not respond to his pleas.
Charles appeals to sons to stop fighting
The brothers’ father, King Charles III, appealed to his sons to stop fighting in a meeting in April 2021 after the funeral of their father, Prince Philip.
“Please, boys. Don’t make my last years a misery,” he told them, according to the memoir.
Harry’s description of the “secret meeting” resembles a duel rather than a reconciliation.
William claimed he did not know why Harry had exiled himself to the United States, Harry writes, while his father “looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Me neither'”. .
lose virginity
Harry recalls losing his virginity to an “older woman” who “loved horses too much” in a field behind a busy pub.
But he says it was a “disgraceful episode” and that it was happening out in the open, where he could be seen.
(with inputs from agencies)
read all latest explainer here