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Prince Harry claimed that his father King Charles III‘s communications team “planted” stories about his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate Middleton‘s children. Harry, 38, made the accusation in US Weekly‘s excerpt of his upcoming memoir Spare. The Duke of Sussex reportedly writes that an “upset” William called him in 2019 and was “seething” about negative stories that came out about William’s kids George, 9, Charlotte, 7, and Louis, 4.
Harry claimed that a “gung-ho” member of then-Prince Charles’ comms team “devised and launched a new campaign of getting good press” for Charles, 74, and his wife Camilla Parker Bowles, 75. The campaign allegedly came “at the expense of bad press” for both Harry and William. Harry alleged that William told him on the phone, “They’ve done this to me for the last time.” The Duke of Cambridge also allegedly said that he “wasn’t going to take it anymore.”
The princes eventually confronted their father, according to Harry, who claimed that he went as “moral support” for his older brother, since his wife Meghan Markle, 41, was also allegedly the victim of planted stories. “Pa instantly got upset. He began shouting that Willy was paranoid. We both were,” Harry reportedly wrote in the book. “Just because we were getting bad press, and he was getting good, that didn’t mean his staff was behind it.” But Harry alleged that he and William had “proof” from reporters that Charles’ team released the negative stories.
Harry further claimed that William turned on him after they confronted their father. “In a blink he shifted all his rage onto me,” Harry alleged. “He was going on and on and I lost the thread. I couldn’t understand and I stopped trying. I fell silent, waiting for him to subside.” This alleged incident happened in 2019, prior to Harry and Meghan stepping down as senior working royals in January 2020.
Harry does not hold back about his tense relationship with his brother in Spare. In an excerpt from the book released by The Guardian, Harry discusses a situation where William allegedly got physical with him. The fight allegedly occurred after William referred to Meghan, as “rude,” “abrasive,” and “difficult.” Harry shared more about the alleged fight in a preview for his interview with ITV, where he said that William “wanted me to hit him back,” but Harry “choose not to.”
Harry’s memoir Spare comes out Jan. 10. It follows Netflix’s six-part docuseries where Harry and Meghan share their side of why they ultimately quit the royal family to move to California, where they’re now raising their two children. Harry is estranged from his family in the U.K., and he’s already hinted at possibly skipping his father’s coronation in May 2023.