Prince William will probably be "furious" at the number of personal revelations pertaining to himself and royal family members in Prince Harry's soon-to-be-published memoir Spare, a recent British TV news show has heard.
Jack Royston, Newsweek's chief royal correspondent, appeared on Good Morning Britain on Friday to discuss the media fallout of Harry's memoir after its content was leaked to the press on Thursday.
Security surrounding the book's release was reported to have been heightened to ensure that no leaking took place before the publication date of January 10, but British newspaper The Guardian and Page Six in the U.S. acquired copies, followed by outlets who found that some Spanish retailers were already selling the memoir in stores.
The most damning revelation revealed from the book so far concerns a violent outburst by William against Harry in the kitchen of Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace in 2019, during an argument said to concern Meghan Markle.
Harry claims that William floored him, causing "scrapes and bruises," when he fell onto and broke a dog bowl.
"It all happened so fast. So very fast," he wrote, per The Guardian. "He [William] grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. 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."
The fight isn't the only literary attack on William revealed so far. Harry is also reported to claim that William's baldness was "alarming" to him, that he no longer visually resembles his mother Princess Diana, that it was he who encouraged Harry to wear a Nazi uniform to a 2005 party and that he berated Meghan Markle over an offensive comment she made to Kate Middleton.
Discussing these revelations in the context of Harry being issued with an invitation to the coronation of King Charles in May, Royston told Good Morning Britain hosts Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway that William in particular most likely wouldn't want him there.
"It's obviously not completely up to him whether he's at the coronation," he said of Harry. "He needs an invite. He can't turn up as a kind of bystander or hanger on and kind of stand in The Mall with everybody else. He's got to have an invite.
"Obviously William is going to be furious about everything that Harry's put in this book. I actually have some sympathy for Harry in relation to that relationship, but William will be furious and I cannot see William wanting Harry at the coronation after everything that's been said."
When asked whether William could have any influence over whether Harry is extended an invite, Royston reflected that: "I think it's a decision that would be made jointly [with Charles] after discussion. I mean Charles obviously is the king and the Prince of Wales does not trump the king but William is Charles' son, Charles and Camilla are both mentioned [in the memoir] as well. I think this will be discussed by the three of them together and probably Kate as well.
"But William's voice does count within that conversation. He doesn't trump the king but his voice counts.
When contacted by Newsweek, Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace declined to comment about the content of Prince Harry's book.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
