It's been just a few weeks since revelations from the Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan" revelations [1] first landed, but there are clearly a lot more bombshells to come from the Duke of Sussex. His highly anticipated memoir, "Spare" [2], hit bookshelves on 10 Jan., and the divulgences contained within are explosive.
But in a new interview with The Telegraph [3], Harry revealed he cut many of the revelations in "Spare" to protect his brother, Prince William, and father, King Charles III. "The first draft was different," he said. "It was 800 pages, and now it's down to 400 pages. It could have been two books, put it that way. And the hard bit was taking things out."
Harry added that there are some things that happened between him and his father and brother he would prefer for the world not to know about. "I don't think they would ever forgive me," he explained.
In addition to revealing he had enough material for two books, Harry also noted that his ultimate goal with the book is to help change the relationship between the royal family and the press. The Duke of Sussex said he wants nothing more than to make things better for the next generation of royals. "This is not about trying to collapse the monarchy — this is about trying to save them from themselves," he said.
On 5 Jan., extracts from the book were leaked to a select number of publications. Later in the day, copies of the book were accidentally released early in Spain, leading to some getting their hands on a copy and to more details being revealed on social media. The Guardian [4] was the first to publish an extract in which Harry recounts being physically attacked by his brother, Prince William. In the excerpt, Harry writes about an alleged confrontation in 2019 at his home of Nottingham Cottage, on the grounds of Kensington Palace, which resulted in William knocking Harry to the floor.
In another heartbreaking extract, this time released by People [5], Harry writes of how he drove through the Parisian tunnel where his mother, Princess Diana, suffered that fatal accident, to relive her final moments in the hope of getting some closure.
"Spare" promises to dive into many more topics, including Harry's experience coping with his mother's tragic death [6], the challenges of growing up in the public eye, and the treatment of him and his wife, Meghan Markle [7], that led them to step down as working royals [8]. Kensington Palace did not immediately respond to POPSUGAR's request for comment.
Harry addressed more details from his book in an ITV special, "Harry: The Interview" [9] with Tom Bradby on 8 Jan., a "60 Minutes" special [10] the same day, and a "Good Morning America" interview [11] with Michael Strahan on 9 Jan. He did one last interview with Stephen Colbert [12] on "The Late Show." [13]
Read on for the shocking memories released from "Spare."
Prince William Implicated Queen Consort Camilla as the Person Who Claimed Meghan Made Kate Cry
In "Spare," Harry recounts a conversation where he — along with Meghan, William, and Kate — attempts to suss out who it was from the Palace who leaked the rumour that Meghan made Kate cry ahead of her wedding to Harry in 2018.
According to an excerpt shared on Twitter [14], Harry first recounted why Buckingham Palace would not correct the story:
No one at the Palace could phone the correspondent, because that would invite the inevitable retort: Well, if the story's wrong, what's the real story? What did happen between the two duchesses? And that door must never be opened, because it would embarrass the future queen.
The monarchy, always, at all costs, had to be protected.
Since the story wouldn't be corrected, the group shifted to figuring out who it was that leaked the story:
Who could've planted such a thing? Who could've leaked it to the press in the first place? Who?
We went around and around. The list of suspects became vanishingly small. Finally, finally, Willy leaned back and conceded that, ahem, while we'd been on tour in Australia, he and Kate had gone to dinner with Pa and Camilla . . . and, alas, he said sheepishly, he might've let it slip that there'd been strife between the two couples . . .
I put a hand over my face. Meg froze. A heavy silence fell. So now we knew.
I told Willy: You . . . of all people . . . should've known . . .
Prince Harry Addresses the Rumours That James Hewitt Is His Real Father
In an excerpt obtained by NBC News (via E! [15]), Harry addresses the rumours that British military officer (and Diana's former lover) James Hewitt is his real father. In the pages of "Spare," he recounts how Charles "liked telling stories," and that one alluding to Hewitt "was one of the best in his repertoire."
"'Who knows if I'm really the Prince of Wales? Who knows if I'm even your real father?'" Charles would joke, according to Harry. "Maybe your real father is in Broadmoor, darling boy!'"
Harry writes that Charles would "laugh and laugh" over that joke, despite it being "remarkably unfunny," conceding that the widespread rumour picked up steam because Diana's former lover shares Harry's red hair. "Tabloid readers were delighted by the idea that the younger child of Prince Charles wasn't the child of Prince Charles," Harry writes. "They couldn't get enough of this 'joke,' for some reason. Maybe it made them feel better about their lives that a young prince's life was laughable."
However, Harry makes clear that he is, in fact, King Charles's son: "Never mind that my mother didn't meet Major Hewitt until long after I was born, the story was simply too good to drop."
Prince Harry Relived Princess Diana’s Final Moments by Driving Through the Fateful Parisian Tunnel
In the extract revealed by People, Prince Harry writes of a heart-rending moment in 2007 when he was 23 years old. He was attending the Rugby World Cup semifinal in Paris and asked his driver to take him through the Pont de l'Alma, the tunnel where his mother, Princess Diana, had that tragic accident 10 years before. Futhermore, he asked to be driven through the tunnel at exactly 65 mph, the speed at which the police revealed the car was travelling (contrary to the 120 mph that was being written in the media).
A warning was given to the driver, that if he "ever revealed to another human that we'd asked him to do this, we'd find him and there would be hell to pay." And so, Harry reportedly details getting driven over the lip at the tunnel entrance and through the passageway.
"I'd always imagined the tunnel as some treacherous passageway, inherently dangerous, but it was just a short, simple, no-frills tunnel. No reason anyone should ever die inside it," Harry writes in the extract. He asked to be driven through a second time, but concludes it was a "very bad idea". "I'd thought driving the tunnel would bring an end, or brief cessation, to the pain, the decade of unrelenting pain," he writes. "Instead it brought on the start of Pain, Part Deux."
Prince Harry Claims Prince William Physically Attacked Him During an Argument About Meghan Markle
The Guardian excerpt includes Harry outlining an altercation with his brother, which began when William called Markle "difficult", "rude", and "abrasive", which Harry calls a "parrot[ing of] the press narrative". (His tumultuous relationship with the media and the leaking of stories was addressed in detail in the Netflix series.) The brothers' confrontation reportedly escalated and insults were exchanged.
According to the newspaper, William said he was trying to help, to which Harry responded: "Are you serious? Help me? Sorry — is that what you call this? Helping me?" It is this comment which allegedly fuelled William's anger. "Willy, I can't speak to you when you're like this," Harry reports he said. Next, it is written that William "grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor."
Harry writes that he landed on the dog bowl and scratched his back, before telling William to leave. William reportedly asked him to hit him back, referencing childhood fights they would have, before looking "regretful", apologising and telling Harry didn't need to tell Markle about the situation that has occurred. Afterwards, Harry called his therapist, but Markle noticed the scrapes on his back and was said to be "terribly sad" about the bust up.
King Charles Begged his Sons to Not Make His Life “a Misery” After Prince Philip's Funeral
Harry also recounts a moment with his brother and father, King Charles, following the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip, in April 2021. The King is reported to have stood between Harry and William "looking up at our flushed faces" and said, "Please, boys. Don't make my final years a misery."
Prince Harry and Prince William Have Nicknames for Each Other
The leaked excerpt also reveals that William addresses Harry as "Harold", and Harry refers to his brother as "Willy", nicknames that hadn't previously been public knowledge. He also refers to William as both his "beloved brother" and his "archnemesis" in the book.
Prince Harry Found Out About Queen Elizabeth II's Death From BBC's Website
According to the BBC [16], Harry first found out about his grandmother's death from the outlet's website. On the day that she died, 8 Sept., Harry made arrangements to get to Balmoral — the Scottish estate where the Queen spent the summer — by plane but news of her death reached him by phone before he could exit it. In his memoir, he wrote, "When the plane started to descend I saw that my phone lit up. It was a message from Meg: 'Call me when you get this' . . . I looked at the BBC website. My grandmother had died. My father was King."
Prince Harry Details Losing His Virginity at 17
AP reported [17] that Harry's memoir recounts his "wild teenage years," in which he recalls losing his virginity at 17 years old to an older woman who "loved horses and treated the teenage prince like a young stallion." Furthermore, the act itself took place "in a field, just behind a crowded pub." Harry reportedly referred to it as a "humiliating episode."
Prince Harry Admits He Took Drugs at a Young Age to "Be Different"
Harry has previously admitted to drug use in his youth when he faced accusations of underage drinking and cannabis use at age 16, CNN [18] reported in 2002. However, his new book reveals that he took cocaine when he was 17 and tried mushrooms at a party at Courteney Cox [19]'s house. According to Sky News [20], he wrote, "Of course I had been taking cocaine at that time. At someone's house, during a hunting weekend, I was offered a line, and since then I had consumed some more . . . It wasn't very fun, and it didn't make me feel especially happy as seemed to happen to others, but it did make me feel different, and that was my main objective. To feel. To be different."
Prince Harry Pushed to Reopen the Investigation Into Princess Diana's Death
Sky News [21] reported that, in Harry's book, the prince called the report into his mother's car crash, which noted the driver was drunk, "simplistic and absurd" and an "insult." "Even if the man had been drinking, even if he had been drunk, he wouldn't have had any problem driving through such a short tunnel. Unless paparazzi were following him and dazzled him," he wrote. "Why had those paparazzi got off lightly? Why weren't they in prison? Who had sent them? And why weren't those people in jail either? What other reason could there be apart from corruption and cover-ups being the order of the day?"
Harry also revealed that he and his brother, William, agreed that his questions about her death were valid, and they planned to issue a statement asking for the investigation to be reopened. "Those who decided dissuaded us," Harry added.
Prince Harry Claims Prince William and Kate Encouraged Him to Wear a Nazi Uniform to a 2005 Party
According to Page Six [22], Harry claims that he was encouraged to wear a Nazi costume to a party in 2005 by his brother and Kate Middleton. According to a section obtained by the outlet, Harry's choice was between a Nazi uniform or a pilot costume. He writes, "I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said. They both howled. Worse than Willy's leotard outfit! Way more ridiculous! Which, again, was the point."
Kate Middleton Was Reportedly "Offended" When Meghan Markle Said She Had Baby Brain
An excerpt obtained by NBC News [23] is shedding new light on the reported tensions between Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, and Meghan Markle [24]. In "Spare," Harry opens up about a moment when Middleton and Markle clashed before he and the "Suits" star tied the knot.
Markle reportedly said Middleton had "baby brain" after the princess said she had forgotten something unimportant. From her perspective, the Duchess of Sussex told Harry that she was speaking to Middleton just as she would her friends, but later Middleton reportedly said she was offended by Markle's comment. According to Harry, the couples came together to discuss the matter over tea.
"You talked about my hormones. We are not close enough for you to talk about my hormones!" Harry recalled Middleton saying to Markle. William then reportedly pointed his finger at Markle and said her "rude" comment wasn't how they spoke to each other in Britain. Harry wrote that Markle then told William to "take your finger out of my face."