The Duke of Sussex has branded the Prince of Wales his “arch nemesis” in his bombshell book, claiming he was physically attacked by William and knocked to the floor during a furious confrontation over the Duchess of Sussex.
Harry also alleges that it was William and the Princess of Wales who encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party 2005 and “howled” with laughter when they saw it.
He calls William both his “arch nemesis” and his “beloved brother” in his autobiography Spare and has admitted there has always been competition between them in their heir/spare roles.
Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace have declined to comment on the leaked claims from Harry’s book which emerged five days before the explosive tell-all memoir is due to be published.
Harry alleges the heated confrontation took place at his then-home in London, Nottingham Cottage, in 2019 and left him with a visible injury to his back after William grabbed him by the collar and ripped his necklace before knocking him to the floor, The Guardian said.
The newspaper said it was able to obtain a copy of Spare despite the tight pre-launch security.
Harry writes: “(William) called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor.
“I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
Other revelations from the book include how the brothers call each other “Willy” and “Harold” and that Charles pleaded with his sons during a tense meeting after the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral: “Please, boys. Don’t make my final years a misery.”
The Guardian tells how Harry wrote that William had wanted to discuss “the whole rolling catastrophe” of their relationship and struggles with the press, but was already “piping hot” when he arrived at the cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace.
William went on to call Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive” – comments Harry told him parroted “the press narrative” about his wife.
Harry then accused his brother of acting like an heir, unable to understand why his younger brother was not content to be a spare, The Guardian said.
Insults were exchanged, with William saying he was trying to help and Harry replying: “Are you serious? Help me? Sorry – is that what you call this? Helping me?”
The duke said the comment angered William who swore while stepping toward him, scaring him, with Harry going into the kitchen and William following.
Harry writes that he gave his brother a glass of water and said: “Willy, I can’t speak to you when you’re like this.”
He then tells how William called him another name and “then came at me” will it all happening “very fast” before the alleged physical confrontation.
The duke writes that William urged him to hit back, citing fights they had as children, but that he refused and William left before returning, looking regretful and apologising.
Harry writes that William told him he did not need to tell “Meg” about this and claimed: “I didn’t attack you, Harold.”
The duke reveals he did not tell Meghan straight away but did contact his therapist, and later admitted to his wife what happened when she saw the “scrapes and bruises”.
Harry has also recorded an interview with Good Morning America (GMA), with a clip showing interviewer Michael Strahan asking him: “There is a quote in the book where your refer to your brother as your “beloved brother and arch nemesis”. Strong words. What did you mean by that?”
Harry replies: “There has always been this competition between us, weirdly. I think it really plays into or is played by the ‘heir/spare’.”
Meanwhile, US website Page Six said sources revealed Harry puts some of the blame for his Nazi uniform scandal on William and Kate.
He tells how he phoned the couple to ask them whether he should chose a pilot’s uniform or a Nazi one for the fancy dress party and William and Kate said the latter, and both howled with laughter when he went home and tried it on for them.
Harry, then 20, sparked outrage and was widely condemned when a photograph of him in the uniform complete with swastika ended up on the front page of a newspaper.
He said in his Netflix documentary: “It was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life.”
Amid the multiple leaks, ITV released a new trailer for Tom Bradby’s interview with the Duke, which will be broadcast at 9pm on Sunday night.
Bradby challenges Harry on “invading the privacy of your most nearest and dearest without permission”.
Harry replies: “That would be the accusation from people that don’t understand or don’t want to believe that my family have been briefing the press.”
The duke is also seen saying: “I don’t know how staying silent is ever going to make things better.”
ITV News at Ten presenter Bradby – a friend of Harry’s – says: “Wouldn’t your brother say to you, ‘Harry, how could you do this to me after everything? After everything we went through?’ Wouldn’t that be what he would say?”
Harry replies: “He would probably say all sorts of different things.”
Asked if he will attend his father’s coronation later this year, he said: “There’s a lot that can happen between now and then but the door is always open, the ball is in their court.”
In an earlier trailer for the interview, Harry said he wanted his father and brother back.
A separate sit-down chat with CBS News’ Anderson Cooper will also be broadcast in the US on Sunday, with snippets revealing Harry will talk of “betrayal” by Buckingham Palace, while the GMA interview will be aired on Monday.
The Sun reported, meanwhile, that the book accidentally went on sale early in Spain.
The Spanish version En La Sombra, which translates as “In the Shadow”, shows that Harry has dedicated his memoir “Para Meg, Archie y Lili… y, for supuesto, mi madre” – “For Meg, Archie and Lili… and, of course, my mother”.
The book comes just weeks after Harry and Meghan’s bombshell Netflix documentary – in which Harry said he was left terrified when William screamed and shouted at him at a tense Sandringham summit in 2020.
Harry, in the final volume of the Sussexes’ controversial series, said Kensington Palace “lied to protect my brother” when it issued a joint statement in both their names the same day without his permission denying a story that William had bullied him out of the royal family.
