Crisis For Royal Family As Harry Says: 'William Attacked Me'

Heir v Spare: crisis for royal family over Harry's claim that William attacked him

- Martin Pengelly

In his highly anticipated autobiography, Spare, Prince Harry recounts what he says was a physical attack by his brother, William as their relationship fell apart over the younger prince's marriage to Meghan Markle.

Describing a confrontation at his London home in 2019, Harry says William, now Prince of Wales, called Meghan "difficult", "rude" and "abrasive", which Harry calls a "parrot[ing of] the press narrative" about his American wife.

The confrontation escalated, Harry writes, until William "grabbed me by the collar, ripping my neck-lace, and ... knocked me to scene, the floor". The extraordinary 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. Amid stringent pre-launch security around the book, the Guardian obtained a copy.

The book's title comes from an old saying in royal circles: that a first son is an heir to titles and power, and a second is therefore a spare, should anything happen to the first-born.

Spare is a remarkable volume, in which the altercation between the two princes forms a startling passage.

Harry writes that William wanted to talk about "the whole rolling catastrophe" of their relationship and struggles with the press. 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".

After William complained about Meghan, Harry writes, Harry told him he was repeating the press narrative and that he expected better. But William, Harry says, was not being rational, leading to the two men shouting over each other.