Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
National

Harry's leaked book reveals Meghan told William 'keep your finger out of my face' during row, among other family secrets

Prince Harry has made sensational claims about senior figures within the royal family in an apparently bungled release of his autobiography, Spare. 

The book details drug use, clairvoyants, battlefield killings, physical violence and deep-seated family grievances.

It was due to be released next week, but copies have leaked and Spanish-language copies were released early in Spain. 

Television networks have also started showing parts of interviews held with Prince Harry held in the lead-up to the book's release. 

While the ABC is yet to see a copy of the book, news outlets are reporting Prince Harry's claims.

Meanwhile, spokespeople for King Charles and Prince William have declined to comment.

Why is any of this relevant? Prince Harry is fifth in line to the throne and the youngest son of King Charles III, Australia's head of state. 

Prince Harry and Prince William asked King Charles not to marry Camilla

Prince Harry says in the book he and his older brother William both begged King Charles not to marry Camilla, who is now Queen Consort. The pair married in a civil service in 2005.

"Despite the fact that Willy and I asked him not to do it, my father went ahead," Harry reportedly writes.

His mother, Princess Diana, had blamed Camilla for the break-up of her marriage with King Charles. 

He says seeing Camilla for the first time was painful.

Harry adds that he wondered whether Camilla would be his "wicked step-mother" and remembered that the first private meeting with her felt like a "pure formality", according to reports from The Sun.

Harry claims William pushed him to the floor (in a row over Meghan)

Prince Harry claims his brother — who is heir to the throne — grabbed him by the collar and pushed him to the floor in 2019. 

Harry says an argument got heated and included William calling his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex "difficult", "rude" and "abrasive".

He says we moved into the kitchen and gave William a glass of water.

"He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast," Harry says.

"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."

Again, the royals have not commented claims made in the book.

Meghan's 'baby brain' comment to Kate sparks argument

Harry says a comment from Meghan suggesting that Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, may have had "baby brain" started a confrontation in 2018. 

He says William "pointed a finger" at Meghan and said: "Well, it's rude, Meghan, these things are not done here."

Harry writes that Meghan responded with: "If you don't mind, keep your finger out of my face." 

William and Catherine laughed at Harry's Nazi costume

Harry was infamously photographed wearing a Nazi uniform to a party when he was 20. 

In the memoir, Harry claims he called William and Catherine Middleton and asked whether he should dress up as a pilot or a Nazi for the "Native and Colonial" themed party. 

William reportedly dressed up as a lion.

"I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said," according to an excerpt from the New York Post.

He said he later tried the uniform on for the pair. 

"They both howled. Worse than Willy's leotard outfit! Way more ridiculous! Which, again, was the point."

Harry hints that he might not attend his father's coronation

Harry was asked in a television interview if we would attend the coronation of King Charles, which is due on May 6. 

"There's a lot that can happen between now and then. But the door is always open. The ball is in their court," Prince Harry says in a UK television interview.

He said "I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back" in an earlier preview of the interview.

It's something King Charles would also reportedly like to see. 

According to an extract quoted by The Guardian, he stood between his sons at the funeral for Prince Philip and told them: "Please, boys, don't make my final years a misery."

Harry says he killed 25 Taliban fighters during Afghanistan tour

Harry says he killed 25 people when serving as a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan.

He says he participated in six missions from 2012 and all of which involved deaths. 

"It wasn't a statistic that filled me with pride but nor did it leave me ashamed," he says, according to Reuters. 

"When I found myself plunged in the heat and confusion of combat I didn't think of those 25 as people.

"They were chess pieces removed from the board, bad people eliminated before they could kill good people."

Harry says he has smoked cannabis and taken cocaine 

Harry says that when he was 17 he was offered a line of cocaine at someone's house and consumed the drug on several other occasions.

But he adds that reports suggesting he was a drug addict were false and that he did not enjoy it.

"It wasn't much fun and it did not make me feel especially happy as it seemed to do to everyone else, but it did make me feel different, and that was my main objective," he says. 

Harry also recounts he used to smoke cannabis in a bathroom at his house at Eton College while the Thames Valley police, who served as his bodyguards, patrolled outside the building.

Harry met a clairvoyant with 'an energy around her' 

Harry describes meeting a woman with "powers" who said she could feel Princess Diana's spirit.

He says the woman was recommended by friends and that, while he had his doubts about her, as soon as he sat down "I felt an energy around her".

"Your mother says that you are living the life that she couldn't live, the life she wanted for you," Harry quotes the woman as telling him.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.