Prince Harry's Spare: Top 10 Most Shocking Reveals
#10: King Charles Dubs Harry “The Spare”
The Troubled Life of Stephen King
The idea of "the heir and the spare" dates way back in Royal circles and refers to the secondborn’s position should anything happen to the older sibling. According to the Guardian, an excerpt from the book mentions that King Charles first used this word to describe his son on the day he was born. He supposedly thanked Diana for providing a 'spare' and declared, "my work is done." You might've also heard endless rumors questioning the King's paternity, with many speculating that Harry's real father might be Princess Diana's former lover, Major James Hewitt. The Prince writes that his father made unkind jabs about the rumors, often ending with, "Who knows if I'm even your real father?" The Prince commented that he found the joke "remarkably unfunny."
#9: How the Prince Learned about His Mom
Top 10 Most Shocking Reveals in Celebrity Interviews
Prince Harry was just 12 years old when he tragically lost his mother in a car accident. He described how he and his brother had been sleeping at Balmoral Castle in Scotland when his father woke him up to break the awful news. He says that the King, who typically struggles to show emotion, didn’t hug him but placed a hand on his knee, called him “darling boy,” and told him “it would be okay.” Harry divulged that he didn’t cry as he was understandably in shock. Decades later, in 2022, he was en route to the U.K. to see the Queen, whose health had declined, but it was only after he’d landed that he says he learned about her passing via the BBC website.
#8: His ‘First Time’ in a Field
Top 10 Shocking Things You Didn't Know About Celebrity Couples
Well, this was the Royal romping story we never thought we’d get! In his memoir, the Prince shared how he got intimate for the first time in a field behind a pub when he was a teen. He describes the “inglorious episode with an older woman” in more detail than we might’ve expected, sharing that she liked “macho horses” and treated him like “a young stallion.” He caps off the unexpected anecdote by saying, well, see for yourself. The Prince withheld the lady’s identity, leading some to suspect it may have been model and actress Liz Hurley, although she’s already denied it. Still, Harry believed that his unsubtle behavior might’ve reached the palace since he was then visited by a bodyguard, but more on that later.
#7: Meghan Markle Upset Kate Middleton with a ‘Baby Brain’ Joke
In the book, Harry notes how when he first told his brother and sister-in-law about Meghan Markle, they responded that they were “religious viewers” of “Suits.” However, the “fab four’s” honeymoon period was seemingly over by the time of Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018. In one story, Harry shares how Meghan was left in tears after Kate insisted on Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress being remade just days before the wedding— although she later apologized. Another anecdote details how Prince William directed his finger towards Meghan’s face and branded her “rude” after she made a joke about Kate forgetting a wedding detail which didn’t land. Middleton had recently given birth to her third child, Prince Louis, and was apparently hurt by Meghan’s “baby brain” comment.
#6: His Experimental Years
Most Shocking Reveals from the Epstein List
The Prince writes candidly about his experimentation with various substances in his late teens and early twenties, noting that he'd convinced himself that he'd be "willing to try almost anything that would upset the established order." His first experience was during a hunting trip when he was 17, but although he confessed it wasn't "fun" and "didn't make him "feel as happy as it seemed to make others," he tried it a few more times. A tabloid editor falsely alleged to have photo evidence of Harry's substance use and reported it to the palace. This was the real reason the bodyguard we mentioned earlier paid him a visit. The Prince also describes a hallucinogenic trip in "Friends" alum Courteney Cox's home in Los Angeles.
#5: He Recreated His Mom’s Accident
Top 10 Biggest Celeb Reveals of 2023
Losing a parent, especially when you're so young, is unimaginable, and understandably, it took Harry years to come to terms with it. He divulged that he'd contrived a narrative where his mom faked her death just to escape the limelight and convinced himself she'd eventually call for him and his brother to join her. He writes that while in Paris for the Rugby World Cup semi-finals in 2007, he convinced his driver to drive through the same tunnel at the same speed, which led to his mom's fatal accident. He added that he told the driver that if he ever told anyone about this, there'd be "hell to pay." However, he's since admitted that it was "a very bad idea."
#4: The Princes Asked Their Father Not to Marry Camilla Parker-Bowles
Prince Harry made several surprising comments about the Queen Consort in his book. He claims that his brother was “tormented” by his knowledge of “the third person” in his parents’ marriage. He also accuses his stepmother of leaking stories to the press to “rehabilitate her image” at their expense. However, arguably the most astonishing revelation is that he and Prince William apparently implored their father not to marry her. They didn’t object to the relationship; they just didn’t think it was a great idea for their dad to walk down the aisle with “the other woman.” However, he confessed that he could see how happy they made each other, and Camilla didn’t turn out to be the evil stepmom he’d worried she’d be.
#3: Prince William & Kate Middleton Encouraged Him to Wear That Costume
You may remember seeing a photo of Prince Harry in an ill-advised costume making the rounds back in 2005. According to Page Six, the Prince addressed the scandal in his book, stating that he was debating between going as a pilot or a Nazi officer to a "Native and Colonial" themed party. He claims that he opted for the latter at the encouragement of William and Kate, who "howled with laughter" when he showed them the costume. Harry, who was 20 years old at the time, apologized extensively following The Sun's initial exposé and called it "one of the biggest mistakes of my life" in his 2022 Netflix docuseries. Apparently, Harry was upset not to have his brother's backing, which supposedly marked the first major blow to their relationship.
#2: A Controversial Boast About His Army Days
Britney Spears' Memoir: Top 10 Shocking Reveals
In one of his most contentious reveals, the Prince seems to almost brag about his actions during his deployment in Afghanistan. He also boasts that since he outranked his brother in the army, William had to salute him in military situations. Anyway, the younger royal spent 10 years in the army, including two operational tours of Afghanistan. He revealed that during this time, he kept a record of how many enemies’ lives he claimed, calling it a number that doesn’t “[fill] me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me.” These comments received plenty of backlash, including from the U.K.’s army, who called Harry’s words “distasteful” and raised concerns that he could put many lives, including his own, at risk.
#1: A Physical Altercation with Prince William
Top 10 Shocking Things We Learned in Adele: One Night Only
In one surprisingly explosive detail, Prince Harry describes how an argument with his brother over Meghan turned physical. He said that in 2019, Prince William visited his Nottingham Cottage home and confronted him about his wife’s allegedly “difficult,” “rude,” and “abrasive” behavior, to which he replied that his brother was just echoing the media’s narrative. He claims that as things got more heated, William suddenly grabbed him by his shirt collar and knocked him to the ground, where he landed on a dog bowl that broke and left cuts on his back. After the initial shock, he got up and told his brother to get out. He also asserts that William urged him to hit him in return, but Harry refused.
