CLAIMS made by Prince Harry in his bombshell memoir, Spare, have been thrown into doubt after readers were left baffled.
Royal experts and eye witnesses have questioned some of the contents of the 407-page book after its release today.
Some of the claims in Prince Harry’s new memoir have been thrown into doubt
His suggestion that Queen Camilla leaked details of her first meeting with Prince William to the press doesn’t seem to stack up
He also seemed to forget what his now-wife Meghan wore on their first date
Here are six parts of the controversial volume that have been thrown into question – and one which is known to be wrong.
Queen Camilla leaking to the press
In both his book and well-publicised interviews with ITV and CBS, Harry repeatedly accused his stepmother of leaking details of her first meeting with Prince William to the press.
However, royal sources told The Telegraph that the situation was actually a lot more complicated.
Far from a direct and intentional leak, the information hit the front pages after an aide, who was told about the meeting in confidence by the Queen Consort, let details slip to her husband.
He then told a colleague, who in turn went to the papers.
The situation reportedly enraged Camilla, while the aide apologised publicly and resigned from her post.
She released a statement at the time, 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.”
Death of the Queen Mother
The Duke of Sussex wrote about the day he received a phone call in March 2002, informing him that the Queen Mother had passed away.
The prince, 38, spoke at length about the “bright and warm” weather that day as he took the call at Eton.
The passage reads: “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.”
This, though, clashes with reports from the time, which indicated that the then-17-year-old Harry was on a skiing holiday in Switzerland with his father and brother when his great-grandma died.
Indeed now King Charles’ office issued a statement saying he would return from the Swiss Alps later that day, while Harry was pictured re-entering the country a day later.
One royal commentator, Richard Fitzwilliams, told GB News that the error “leaves doubt as to how closely the book has been fact-checked”.
He added: “One wonders how many other factual errors are to be found within its pages.”
First date outfit
Royal fans were quick to pick up on inconsistencies in Harry’s account of his first date with his now-wife Meghan Markle.
In the book, he wrote that Meghan looked “chic” and “heart-attack beautiful” in a black sweatshirt, jeans and heels during their first meeting at Soho House.
However, Meghan herself has previously said she wore a blue dress on the occasion.
She even said that a thread from the dress was sewn into her stunning Givenchy wedding gown as her ‘something blue’, throwing doubt on her husband’s memory.
Xbox error
This is one of the more easily dismissed claims Harry made, as he recalled received an Xbox on his 13th birthday in September 1997.
He wrote that the console was a gift from his mother Princess Diana shortly before her tragic death in a Paris car crash.
The only slight problem with this is that the Xbox wasn’t released until 2001, four years after he was supposedly given one.
However, Harry did admit that his recollection of the birthday was limited, writing: “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.”
Charles and Camilla’s wedding
In one of the first mentions of the Queen Consort in the memoir, the Duke recounts how he pleaded with his father not to marry her.
He also details the couple’s wedding in April 2005, saying that he “knew without question that this marriage would take Pa away from us” and had mixed feelings on the day.
This has been publicly doubted by former royal butler Grant Harrold, who told Spin Genie: “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.”
The death of the Queen
In the epilogue of the book, Harry discusses the tragic day in September 2022 when he learned that the Queen had died at Balmoral.
He claimed that learned of the terrible news from the BBC website rather than his own family.
However, royal sources strongly denied this and were adamant that Harry was told before an official statement was released to the press, saying the King insisted upon it.
‘Glum’ William on the wedding day
Finally, Harry claimed that Prince William was “glum” about the uniform he wore when he married the now Princess of Wales in 2011.
William wore a bright red Irish Guards uniform at the request of the late Queen, but his younger brother has suggested he would have preferred his Household Cavalry frock coat.
This was flatly denied by biographer Robert Hardman, who wrote in the Daily Mail: “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.”
Spare by Prince Harry is on sale now.
Royal sources strongly denied his claim that he found out about the Queen’s death via the BBC website
Meanwhile, his memory of receiving an Xbox for his 13th birthday is challenged by the fact that the consoles didn’t come out until four years later
He also said that he had pleaded with his father not to marry Camilla and had strongly mixed feelings on the day
His suggestion that William was ‘glum’ about his uniform as he married Kate was flatly denied by a royal expert
