The Duke of Sussex has called his role as best man at Prince William’s wedding a “bare-faced lie”, according to reports.
Extracts from Harry’s autobiography Spare were published after the book was accidentally put on sale in Spain earlier this week, five days before it was due to be released on 10 January.
Some of the most startling revelations include details about a physical altercation with the Prince of Wales in 2019 over Harry’s wife Meghan Markle, William’s alleged role in the infamous Nazi soldier costume controversy, and the Duke of Sussex’s “ill-judged” claim he killed 25 people during military service in Afghanistan.
You can follow The Independent’s live coverage of Harry’s book here.
In one part of the book, Harry reportedly wrote that he was forced to go along with the “bare-faced lie” that he was William’s best man at his wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011.
According to reports by MailOnline and The Mirror, Harry claimed he was made to “act out” the role at the royal wedding to spare scrutiny into the lives of his brother’s two closest friends James Meade and Thomas Van Straubenzee.
Harry was officially considered the best man, and travelled to Westminster Abbey with his brother and then Prince Charles in a Bentley.
“Willy didn’t want me giving a best man’s speech,” the duke reportedly wrote in his book, adding that it was actually Meade and Straubenzee who gave the traditional speech at William’s wedding reception.
The Independent has reached out to Kensington Palace and Harry for comment.
Harry also reportedly detailed how William greeted people who had assembled on the Mall by Buckingham Palace ahead of his wedding while he was “tipsy on last night’s rum”.
Offering William mints, Harry recalled saying to him: “You smell of alcohol.”
Other anecdotes from Harry’s book, ghostwritten by JR Moehringer and published by Penguin Random House, include a story about how he received a message from his late mother Diana after meeting a woman “with powers”.
Harry also revealed he lost his virginity to an older woman in a field behind a “very busy pub”, and admitted to doing cocaine as a teenager “to feel different”.
Harry’s ITV interview with Tom Bradby to promote Spare will be released in the UK at 9pm on Sunday 8 January.
The duke also sat down with CNN’s Anderson Cooper for a conversation about Spare, which will be broadcast on the day of publication.
Here’s how viewers in the UK can watch the ITV interview.
