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Prince Harry, 38, is opening up about a physical altercation that occurred between him and Prince William, 40, in 2019 in his upcoming memoir, Spare, The Guardian reports. In an excerpt obtained by the outlet, Harry claimed William threw him to the ground after getting into an argument at his Nottingham Cottage residence about Meghan Markle, who William allegedly called “difficult,” “rude” and “abrasive”. Harry described his brother’s rhetoric as “parrot[ing] of the press narrative” in the United Kingdom.
Harry continued on to say the situation escalated and turned physical after he told “Willy” he can’t talk to him when he’s angry. “It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and … knocked me to the floor,” the father of two wrote. “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.”
Harry also claimed that William, who showed up to his Kensington Palace abode “piping hot”, attempted to get him to throw a punch back, but he refused. Harry claimed his brother eventually left but later returned when he had calmed down. Harry said William appeared “regretful” and “apologized”.
Harry remembered that when William left his house after he apologized, he turned around and said Meghan, 41, did not “need” to be told about their disagreement. “‘You mean that you attacked me?’” Harry recalled saying, to which William replied, “I didn’t attack you, Harold.” Harry told Meghan after speaking to his therapist and said she was saddened by the news.
The graphic imagery by the Duke of Sussex comes after reports that the famous brothers are trying to mend their relationship. “The brothers needed time for everything to settle down,” an insider told the Mirror in May 2022. “The family, including William, had been disappointed in the way Harry and Meghan chose to leave the royal family. But now there is a strong feeling that what happened is in the past and that they have moved on.”
Plus, a Jan. 4 report claimed that King Charles is willing to work on his relationship with Harry. “Those close to the king insist that he has always made clear how much he loves both of his sons, keeping communication channels open throughout the last few years, despite the many barbs from California,” an insider told The Telegraph. They added that Charles, 74, has “reiterated that his door remains open and that the Duke and [Meghan Markle] are welcome at any time.”
The theme of Spare revolves around Harry being second in line behind his brother for everything in his life, per The Guardian. The outlet reported that toward the beginning of his book, Harry even claimed his father told his mother, Princess Diana, that he needed a second son as a “spare” after she had given birth to William in 1982: “Wonderful! Now you’ve given me an heir and a spare – my work is done,” Harry wrote.
Spare will be available for all to purchase on Tuesday, Jan. 10.