Kate, William, Harry and Meghan at Windsor Castle in September following the death of the Queen. Harry then accused his brother of acting like an heir, unable to understand why his younger brother was not content to be a spare. But William, Harry says, was not being rational, leading to the two men shouting over each other. But when William arrived at Nottingham Cottage – where Harry was then living, in the grounds of Kensington Palace and known as “Nott Cott” – he was, Harry says, already “piping hot”.Īfter William complained about Meghan, Harry writes, Harry told him he was repeating the press narrative and that he expected better.

Harry writes that William wanted to talk about “the whole rolling catastrophe” of their relationship and struggles with the press. Spare is a remarkable volume, in which the altercation between the two princes forms a startling passage. The book’s title comes from an old saying in royal and aristocratic circles: that a first son is an heir to titles, power and fortune, and a second is therefore a spare, should anything happen to the first-born.

The extraordinary scene, which Harry says resulted in visible injury to his back, is one of many in Spare, which will be published worldwide next week and is likely to spark a serious furore for the British royal family.Īmid stringent pre-launch security around the book, the Guardian obtained a copy. The confrontation escalated, Harry writes, until William “grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and … knocked me to the floor”. Describing a confrontation at his London home in 2019, Harry says William called Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”, which Harry calls a “parrot the press narrative” about his American wife.

1st to die book review