One of the shocking claims in Prince Harry's memoir has been dismissed as "dramatised" by a first-hand witness.
In Spare, the prince details a "suicide" training flight, saying that an army instructor stalled their Slingsby T67 Firefly propeller plane on purpose without alerting anyone to what was happening.
But Major Michael Booley, who is an ex-Sergeant and who was there at the time of the supposed incident, says this didn't happen - and that every detail of these flights is laid out beforehand.
He told the Sunday Mirror: "I am staggered by this. In shock even," instead providing a clearer explanation that may prove Harry's account to be false.
The Mirror reports that in Spare, Harry writes: "On one of our first flights together, with no warning, Booley threw the aircraft into a stall.
"I felt the left wing dip, a sickening feeling of disorder, of entropy, and then, after several seconds that felt like decades, he recovered the aircraft and levelled the wings.
"I stared at him. What in the absolute—? Was this an aborted suicide attempt?’ No, he said gently. This was the next stage in my training."
Michael has hit back at this claim, saying: "Whilst the book compliments me, the recollection of the sorties and lessons is inaccurate, I’m afraid. It’s important to highlight that nothing in the cockpit comes as a surprise.
"Every sortie is thoroughly briefed beforehand, every single aspect.
"The sortie is flown exactly as per that brief. The only time there are surprises is later in the syllabus, not as stated in the book, when emergencies are introduced.
"Engine failures are practised before the first solo obviously, in case the student suffers one."
The 57-year-old served in the army for 33 years, and taught Harry how to pilot the Firefly back in 2009.
And while Michael still holds "utmost respect" for the prince, he's questioned certain parts of the memoir, which was ghostwritten by author John Joseph Moehringer.
He claims he never called the royal Lt Wales, as the book claims. He adds: "I think the reference to the flying sorties has been dramatised. I think it’s a result of the ghost writing. I never called him Lt Wales, he was an officer, and I called him Sir."
In spite of these claims, Michael still has a lot of respect for the prince and spoke about a time the pair enjoyed a Sunday lunch together. They were also pictured in 2009 just after Harry graduated from the Defence Elementary Flying Training School.
He's not the only one who's questioned some of the content in Harry's book.
A former Apache instructor told the Mirror: "All training sorties are briefed to the nth degree so the student is fully aware of what the plan is. In the air is not the time to try and brief somebody on what the plan is.
"The briefing will take place on the ground in front of a blackboard. I can only assume the book was written like this for dramatic effect because it’s wrong and no instructor would behave like this."
The prince also claimed to have killed 25 Taliban members during his time in Afghanistan, leading to him being widely criticised for exposing fellow veterans and his family to potential danger.
The Mirror has contacted Harry's team for comment.
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