By Martin Robinson Chief Reporter and Jack Wright and Tom Pyman and Natasha Anderson For Mailonline
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King Charles maintained a dignified silence earlier today when he was asked if he was ‘hurt by the comments’ in Prince Harry’s scathing memoir.
The monarch was meeting with community groups in Aberdeenshire today when the question was posed, but he did not acknowledge the question.
Prince William also ignored a reporter who asked if he had a chance to read Harry’s autobiography Spare during his first royal engagement since the release of the book.
It comes Prince Harry took more swipes at Kate by revealing details about a tense moment over new-age medicine, apparent jealousy of Meghan and the infamous bridesmaids dress row.
King Charles visited the Aboyne and Mid-Deeside Community Shed on his first engagement since the book release, but he did not make any comments on the memoir
Prince William ignored a reporter who asked if he had a chance to read Harry’s book. The question was posed today during the Prince and Princess of Wales’ first royal engagement since the release of the searing memoir
The Prince and Princess of Wales were in Merseyside today visiting the Open Door Charity when a journalist queried: ‘Have you had a chance to read your brother’s book?’
William, who has been at the centre of attacks by his younger sibling, ignored the question, prompting Mr Rashid to ask again: ‘Have you had a chance to read your brother’s again your Royal Highness?’
A smiling William and Kate continued on, walking past the reporter without acknowledging his question.
Similarly, a journalist asked Charles today: ‘Sir, are you hurt by the comments in the book?’
The King was in a car that was driving away when the question was asked, Sky News reported. No response was heard and it is unclear if Charles even caught the question.
Although William has not publicly commented on the memoir, royal insiders have claimed he is ‘seething and devastated’ by what Harry has penned in the book and ‘cannot forgive’ the Duke of Sussex.
The questions aimed at the Prince and Princess of Wales follow Prince Harry providing further intimate details into the falling out between Kate and Meghan.
In the book, the Duke of Sussex shares how the women were both left in tears during the bridesmaid dress row, while also detailing a disagreement over a shared lip gloss.
However elsewhere, he reveals a number of others tense moments between the two women – including the moment the Princess of Wales dismissed Meghan’s remedies for a common cold which at the dinner table.
Meanwhile he also says his sister-in-law was put ‘on edge’ after realising she ‘was now going to be compared to, and forced to compete with, Meghan’.
The Prince and Princess of Wales were in Merseyside today visiting the Open Door Charity when Sky News reporter Inzamam Rashid queried: ‘Have you had a chance to read your brother’s book?’ William and Kate are pictured during today’s visit the charity
Harry wrote in Spare that the heir to the throne attacked him and hurled him to the floor by the collar in a blazing row when William called Meghan ‘difficult’, ‘rude’ and ‘abrasive’.
William previously, when questioned by Mr Rashid, did respond to a searing allegation made by his brother and sister-in-law.
Mr Rashid had asked the Prince ‘Is the Royal Family a racist family?’ just days after after the Sussexes accused the institution of racism during their March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
William, in an unprecedented move, was the first royal to personally respond to the allegation, telling Mr Rashid at the time: ‘We are very much not a racist family.’
The journalist questioned whether he had spoken to his brother since the bombshell broadcast, to which William replied: ‘No, I haven’t spoken to him, but I will do.’
William and Kate listen to members of staff in the ‘Cloud Room’ during a visit to the Open Door Charity today
William and Kate listen to Lee Pennington, founder and charity director, as they visit the Open Door Charity, a charity focused on supporting young adults across Merseyside with their mental health, using culture and creativity as the catalyst for change
William and Kate speak with a group of young adults during their visit to the Open Door Charity in Merseyside today
Ealier today, a smiling William told adoring crowds he will ‘keep going’ as he visited Liverpool with the Princess of Wales in the wake of his brother Harry’s searing attacks on the Royal Family.
The Waleses – who are at the very centre of the acrimonious row with the Sussexes that sparked Megxit – were greeted with a huge cheer from royal fans as they arrived in Liverpool to open a new hospital.
Sylvia, 81, who was at the Liverpool Royal Hospital for an appointment, said to William: ‘Keep going Will, Scousers love you.’ To which he replied: ‘I will do.’ The couple appeared to ignore questions about the memoir.
Across the border, the King petted dogs and spoke to charity workers at the Aboyne and Mid-Deeside Community Shed in Aberdeenshire, where he is visiting a foodbank and local charities. Charles was seen joking with charity workers as he thanked them for coming and said: ‘I hope you don’t get too cold.’
One woman in the crowd outside, who was from Australia, was told by the King: ‘Send my love to Australia.’
And in Harry’s interviews with US and UK broadcasters he continued to hammer his older brother for his role in Megxit, which is said to have left William seething.
It follows reports that senior royals want to ban the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from the King’s Coronation this year – and as Charles focuses on state visits to France and Germany as he adopts a ‘keep calm and carry on’ approach despite the fallout from his son’s memoir.
The Prince and Princess of Wales receive a rapturous welcome as they visit the Royal Liverpool Hospital
The couple pose for individual selfies with Anna O’Hara, a healthcare assistant
Kate meets a golden retriever therapy dog during the hospital visit today
Prince Harry leaving The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in New York City earlier this week
William showed no sign of that anger as he chatted happily with the Princess of Wales as they exited the grounds of Windsor Castle.
The Prince and Princess of Wales then visited the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital, which opened its doors in October 2022, replacing the old hospital which had served the community for over four decades.
In Scotland, the King said he was ‘very impressed’ as he was presented with a plaque made to commemorate his visit to community groups in Aberdeenshire.
Charles also drank tea with members of the Aboyne Men’s Shed, which is housed in the community shed, and watched craft skills including wood and stone carving in action.
Dressed in a hunting Stewart tartan kilt, the King then unveiled the plaque, made by Men’s Shed member Tony Atherton, to a round of applause and said: ‘I am very impressed.’
The plaque reads: ‘This plaque was unveiled to commemorate the visit of His Majesty King Charles III to Aboyne Men’s Shed on Thursday 12th January.’ After admiring it, Charles quipped: ‘Has he spelt it all right?’
Charles is said to be working on preparations for two state visits at the end of March, the Standard reported. These will be the first state visits of his reign and he will be accompanied by Queen Consort Camilla.
One senior figure told the paper: ‘These two visits to our closest and most influential European neighbours are hugely important for cementing our diplomatic and deeper ties with these countries.
A crowd of royal fans greet the Prince and Princess of Wales in Liverpool
The Prince and Princess of Wales wave to crowds on their first engagement since Harry’s book hit the shelves
The Princess of Wales smiling and waving as she arrives in Liverpool
Hospital staff try and Get a glimpse of HRH Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to the new Royal Liverpool Hospital
The Princess of Wales chats to medics during today’s visit, as members of the public look on
A smiling Kate smiles for the cameras during the visit this afternoon
The Prince and Princess of Wales visiting the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital
Kate and William were all smiles as they visited the Royal Liverpool University Hospital
The Prince and Princess of Wales speaking to staff at the hospital
The Princess of Wales today in Liverpool
William and Kate wave to well-wishers in Liverpool
Kate turns around and waves at royal fans as she arrives at the Royal Liverpool University hospital in Liverpool
The Princess of Wales during a visit to Royal Liverpool University Hospital
The official Prince and Princess of Wales Twitter account tweeted: ‘Hi Merseyside’
The monarch laughs as he speaks to a well-wisher in Aberdeenshire
His Majesty cracks a joke as he signs the visitors’ book
During his visit, the King toured the facilities at the local community space and met with support groups. The engagement takes place two days after the official release of Prince Harry’s book ‘Spare’
King Charles III is greeted at Aboyne and Mid-Deeside Community Shed
The Princess of Wales was seen chatting happily as they went out this morning
A grinning Prince William shook off his brother’s barbs as he left Windsor with his Kate today
‘This soft power diplomacy is what our King and the Royal Family do and do well. When all the noise dies down and it will, the King and the working royals will continue to do what is important, working for our great country for the people of our great country.’
Harry’s controversial autobiography has become the fastest selling non-fiction book in history, according to publisher Penguin Random House, which reported more than 1.4million copies were sold on Tuesday, the day it went on sale.
Reports of a fractious friendship between Meghan and Kate were confirmed in Spare, with Harry recounting how the princess, pregnant at the time with Prince Louis, said she was owed an apology from his wife who had previously commented Kate was suffering from ‘baby brain’ due to her ‘hormones’.
He also shed further light on the row over Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress claiming, contrary to reports at the time, Kate was not in tears but the incident had left Meghan ‘sobbing on the floor’.
During a series of interviews to promote Spare, Harry defended himself against criticism, following his revelation in the book he killed 25 Taliban members during the Afghanistan war.
He denied boasting about the killings when interviewed by Stephen Colbert on CBS’s The Late Show, and claimed members of his family are in an active campaign to ‘undermine’ his autobiography.
A YouGov poll has found the popularity of Harry has fallen since his book was published with 68 per cent of 1,691 adults, polled on Tuesday and Wednesday, having a negative opinion about him while 24 per cent thought positively.
YouGov said the figures meant the duke had his lowest ever net favourability rating of minus 44, down from minus 38 last week, which had been his previous record low.
Speaking about the record sales, president and publisher of the Random House Group Gina Centrello said: ‘While many books by public figures can be fairly categorized as ‘celebrity memoir’, Spare is not that.
‘Vulnerable and heartfelt, brave and intimate, Spare is the story of someone we may have thought we already knew, but now we can truly come to understand Prince Harry through his own words.
‘Looking at these extraordinary first day sales, readers clearly agree, Spare is a book that demands to be read, and it is a book we are proud to publish.’
It was reported overnight that Harry will not be welcome at his father’s coronation in May in light of the barrage of criticism levelled against his family in Spare.
Senior royals have baulked at the thought of spending time with him at the historical event in case their conversations ‘end up in the paperback’ edition of his memoir, The Sun reported.
Harry on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week
According to the publisher, the English language edition of Spare sold more than 1.4 million units in all formats and editions in the United States, Canada and the UK on January 10 when it hit bookshop shelves
It is unclear whether Charles will invite his younger son to the Coronation, or whether Prince Harry would accept.
The Duke of Sussex launched an attempted charm offensive this week, appearing on US talk shows mocking royal protocol to promote his bestselling memoir, Spare.
In one interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby, the Duke of Sussex said ‘a lot can happen between now and then’ when asked if he will go to see his father crowned in May.
One source said this week: ‘The family expects Harry and Meghan to find a reason not to be there’.
Prince William rowed with his father and stepmother after accusing them of ‘planting’ stories in the media about himself and his family, Harry claims.
The prince says he took a call in April 2019 from his brother who was ‘seething’ with rage.
‘Something had happened between him and Pa and Camilla. I couldn’t get the whole story, he was talking too fast, and was way too upset,’ Harry writes in his memoir, Spare.
‘I gathered that Pa and Camilla’s people had planted a story or stories about him and Kate and the kids, and he wasn’t going to take it any more.
”Give Pa and Camilla an inch,’ he said, ‘and they take a mile. They’ve done this to me for the last time.’
‘I got it. They’d done the same to me and Meg as well.’
The prince says he took a call in April 2019 from his brother who was ‘seething’ with rage and believed Charles and Camilla’s staff had ‘planted’ a story. Pictured together at the unveiling of a statue of their mother, Princess Diana, in 2021
Harry blames a ‘gung-ho’ member of his father’s Press office for ‘peddling’ fake or unflattering stories as part of a ‘campaign’ of getting good Press for the now King and Queen Consort
The duke does not specify what story William was talking about.
But Harry blames a ‘gung-ho’ member of his father’s Press office for ‘peddling’ fake or unflattering stories as part of a ‘campaign’ of getting good Press for the now King and Queen Consort at the expense of other family members.
Harry also blamed the same person, whom he doesn’t name but says is a woman, of leaking that he had gone on a hunting trip to Germany in 2017 that ‘made me out to be some fat-bottomed seventeenth-century baron who craved blood in trophies’.
In fact – he says – he had been ‘working with German farmers to cull wild boar and save their crops’.
Harry claims his German story was ‘swapped’ for ‘better access’ to his father and to suppress stories about a member of Camilla’s family.
He even claims he had ‘proof’ from reporters inside ‘actual newsrooms’ that he and his brother were being sold out.
Harry claims he had ‘proof’ from reporters inside ‘actual newsrooms’ that he and his brother were being sold out, and claims it was happening to benefit the King and Queen Consort
Prince Harry’s book, Spare, was released on January 10 and quickly became one of the fastest selling non-fiction books ever
The duke does not specify what story William was so upset about
However, Charles’s PR team was headed up by a man in 2017 and 2019.
And Harry’s hunting trip only leaked because locals tipped off Germany’s biggest newspaper that Harry and his friends had arrived in the country on a private jet.
They also managed to track down which estate they were on because he had attended the wedding of the landowner – nicknamed The Boar Terminator – previously and classed him as a good friend.
Harry does not name the staff member he holds responsible, but goes on to describe a showdown that he and William had with their father over the person.
‘The reason why he and Meghan left was not because they were forced out, as they claim, or that they dramatically fled for their lives,’ one royal source said
Charles was said to have angrily refuted their claims and denied that his staff would ever leak stories deliberately.
Harry said he was grateful, however, that William had phoned him to talk about his problems given the state of their relationship in 2019 and Harry took the opportunity to highlight his and Meghan’s concerns with the institution.
He said his brother snapped back: ‘I’ve got different issues with you two!’
Harry claims to have had his brother on speakerphone as he stood in the garden at Frogmore Cottage, but quickly switched back to his regular audio when he realised Meghan was approaching him.
Harry says his wife could still hear his brother shouting and walked back into the house ‘holding her stomach’ – the incident coming just before she gave birth to son, Archie, with tears in her eyes.
Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group