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Kyle O'Sullivan & Jennifer Newton & Abbie Meehan

The Prince Harry book claims causing doubt and the one 'proven to be untrue'

As Prince Harry continues his promotional tour for his new memoir, Spare, readers have been questioning some of the serious allegations he has made in the book.

When the Oprah Winfrey interview dropped with Harry and his wife Meghan, the Queen famously stated that "recollections may vary". And now, Spare may be another example of this narrative, reports the Mirror.

A handful of the claims Harry makes in his memoir are already being questioned heavily by readers, royal experts, and the people who were present during the alleged misdoing.

READ MORE - Prince Harry downs tequila as he promotes memoir 'Spare' on US chat show

Prince Harry has claims made that are being scrutinised by many - from confusing what Meghan wore on their first date, to recalling the death of his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother.

And a fair few of these allegations have been branded questionable.

Camilla leaked information to the press

One accusation that Harry continually makes throughout the book is that his stepmother, Queen Consort Camilla, leaked details about her first ever meeting with his brother Prince William to the press.

He states that William would not have leaked these details, so comes to the conclusion that it must have been Camilla.

However, royal sources have argued that the Queen Consort was not responsible for this information ending up in the media's hands. According to the Telegraph, Camilla had told a former aide, who she had hired in 1998, in confidence about the meeting.

The aide then apparently repeated the conversation to her husband, who then told a colleague - who informed the press. The aide then apologised and left her post, with Camilla said to be furious about the situation.

The aide released a statement saying: "It is a matter of great regret to me that chance remarks of mine led to the disclosure in the press of the private meeting between Mrs Parker Bowles and Prince William.

“I am so very sorry for the distress this has caused. Above all, my shame is that I have failed those who demand loyalty and trust, particularly my remarkable employer Mrs Parker Bowles.

“I am very sorry to be leaving but as the person responsible for this unhappy chain of events, I cannot with honour remain in this position."

Queen Mother's death

In Spare, Harry recalled the moment he was told his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother, had died back in march 2002.

The Duke described how he was in "bright and warm" weather at his school in Eton when he received the upsetting "phone call".

However, reports from the time say that the Prince wasn't even in the country at the time, and was skiing in Switzerland with his father and brother. A statement from the King at the time says he planned to return to the UK as soon as possible - and Harry was photographed returning back a day later.

However, Harry wrote: "At Eton, while studying, I took a call. I wish I could remember whose voice was at the other end; a courtier's, I believe.

"I recall that it was just before Easter, the weather was bright and warm, light slanting through my window, filled with vivid colours. Your Royal Highness, the Queen Mother has died."

But at the time, Buckingham Palace issued the following statement: "The Queen, with the greatest sadness, has asked for the following announcement to be made immediately: Her beloved mother, Queen Elizabeth, died peacefully in her sleep this afternoon."

The spokeswoman for the then-Prince of Wales issued a statement from Klosters later on, saying: "He [Charles] is devastated. His only wish is to get home as soon as he can."

A BBC News online report from the time clearly adds "William and Harry [were] away skiing in Klosters when the 101-year-old died in her sleep."

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told GB News: "This is a serious error in a hugely controversial book.

"That Harry is clearly wrong in his recollection of the facts as to where he was when the Queen Mother died leaves doubt as to how closely this book has been fact-checked.

"One wonders how many other factual errors are to be found within its pages."

Harry claims he was gifted Xbox - four years before they existed

In the books earlier chapter, Harry describes his 13th birthday on September 15, 1997 - which came just weeks after his mother, Princess Diana, tragically died.

As he celebrated with cake and sorbet, Harry explains that he was asked to make a wish and was thinking of his mother - when "out of nowhere" his aunt Sarah appeared holding a box.

He tore at the wrapping paper, peered inside and saw he had received an Xbox.

Harry claims that aunt Sarah said his mother had bought the games console for him shortly before her death, while she was in Paris.

In Spare, he also writes: "That's the story, anyway. It's appeared in many accounts of my life, as gospel, and I have no idea if it's true. Pa said Mummy hurt her head, but perhaps I was the one with brain damage?

"As a defence mechanism, most likely, my memory was no longer recording things quite as it once did."

However, it does appear that the Xbox wasn't available to buy until four years later, in 2001.

Released in 2001, Xbox was Microsoft's first entry into the world of console electronic gaming, which placed it in direct competition with Sony's PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's GameCube.

Issues over first date outfit

Royal fans with a razor-sharp memory will question details about what Meghan actually wore on her first date with Prince Harry at Soho House.

Recalling their first meeting after speaking online for weeks, Harry stated that Meghan wore a black sweatshirt, jeans and heels. The Duke also added that while he knew nothing about fashion, he could tell she was "chic".

He admires her “no frills” look at their first meeting, describing her as “heart-attack beautiful”.

On the contrary, Meghan shared that she wore a blue dress for their first meeting.

When she was reunited with her stunning Givenchy wedding dress for an ITV documentary, Meghan revealed she had a thread from the dress sewn into her veil as her “something blue”.

Harry and Meghan on their wedding day. (AFP via Getty)

As Meghan laid eyes on the dress for the first time since the wedding during ITV’s Queen and Commonwealth, she said: “My goodness, it’s amazing, isn’t it?

“Somewhere in here, there’s a piece of… did you see it?” she points out when inspecting her veil. “The piece of blue fabric that’s stitched inside. It was my something blue. It’s fabric from the dress that I wore on our first date. It’s nice to see it again. It’s beautiful.”

However, it might just be coincidence that Harry has misremembered their date, as he recalls Meghan wearing a blue dress on their second date.

Also at Soho House, he writes that she wore a blue sundress with white pinstripes. He again praises her beautiful, romantically saying she was “aglow”.

Charles and Camilla's wedding

One of the first mentions of Queen Consort Camilla is early in the book when Harry meets her for the first time.

He also recalls pleading with Charles not to marry her, and wrote that a wedding would only cause "controversy".

Meanwhile, he also details the couple's wedding day in April 2005, and said he "knew without question that this marriage would take Pa away from us" and had mixed feelings that day.

However former Royal butler, Grant Harrold, has questioned the validity of this statement as he was there during the whole event. He said he saw an excited Harry at their nuptials.

Speaking to Spin Genie, he said: "I was there for the wedding, the engagement. I promise you from my point of view and as I say, I wasn’t there every single second so I can’t guarantee what conversations took place but when I was around they all got on. [Harry and William] supported their father, they were very excited about it and they were there at the actual wedding as well.

"I saw when the cars drove off after the wedding, there was William and Harry running after the cars with the cans. Why would you do that? If you were so against it you wouldn’t even go outside."

Queen's death news

Harry at the Queen's funeral last September. (Getty)

In the final few pages of the book, in its epilogue, Harry describes the tragic day in September 2022 when his grandmother the Queen died at her beloved Balmoral home.

As he happened to be back in the UK with Meghan, he raced to be with his grandmother in her final moments - but after taking a private jet, he like several other of his royal relatives arrived too late after she passed away.

In Spare, Harry says as his plane began its descent "my phone lit up" with a text from Meghan telling him to call her - and it prompted him to check the BBC website, where he learned "Granny was gone. Pa was King".

However, royal sources have previously insisted that Harry was told of his grandmothers passing before an official statement was released to the press.

One told the Telegraph : "The King was adamant that the official statement must not be released until all members of the family had been informed. That was a father talking because he cares."

'Glum' William's wedding uniform

As well as revealing never-before-heard details about his own wedding, Harry also writes about the nuptials of his brother William to wife Kate.

William and Kate married at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, with Kate memorably wearing a stunning Alexander McQueen wedding dress.

William donned the bright red uniform of the Irish Guards at the late Queen's insistence. However Harry claims that William wanted to wear his Household Cavalry frock coat uniform.

In Spare, Harry writes: "Willy was glum at having so little say in what he wore to get married, at having his autonomy taken from him on such an occasion. He'd told me several times that he felt frustrated."

However, biographer Robert Hardman wrote in the Daily Mail that he spoke to William shortly after the wedding - and didn't get the impression that he was glum about the uniform he had to wear.

He said: "When I interviewed Prince William about his wedding a few weeks after the event for my book, Our Queen, he not only had fond memories of the Queen’s insistence on his choice of uniform.

"He was very funny about it and laughed a lot."

READ NEXT

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