Latest updates as Prince Harry admits in Spare that he took cocaine as a teen, killed 25 people in Afghanistan and that he and William asked Charles not to marry Camilla.
That’s all for our coverage on the claims made by Prince Harry in his autobiography Spare which mistakenly went on sale today in Spain, five days ahead of the official release date.
In his autobiography, Prince Harry has claimed that he found out the Queen had died from the BBC.
He wrote: “When the plane started to descend, I saw my mobile phone light up. It was a message from Meg: ‘call me as soon as you read this’.
“I checked the BBC webpage. My grandmother had died. My father was the King. I put on a black tie, stepped off the plane into heavy drizzle.”
Harry also claims that his father told him that Meghan should not come to Balmoral. The Queen was staying at her Scottish estate when she died last September.
The prince wrote: “Then my father called again. He told me I was welcome at Balmoral, but… without her. He started to explain his reasons, but they didn’t make any sense at all, and it was disrespectful as well. I did not tolerate it from him.
“Don’t even think about talking about my wife like that.
“Repentant, he said, stammering, that he simply didn’t want the place to be full of people. Nobody’s wife was going to go, not even Kate, he told me, so Meg shouldn’t either.”
Copies of Prince Harry’s autobiography, Spare, have gone on sale in Spain – five days before its official global release date.
Sky News has seen a copy of the book whichincludes claims of an altercation with Prince William that caused “scrapes and bruises” on his back. He also admits to taking cocaine.
On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson is joined by Sky’s royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills to examine, after the Oprah Winfrey interview and Netflix docuseries, what extra insight the book’s 557 pages might offer.
Sky’s live Q&A on Prince Harry’s claims has now ended.
Broadcaster Afua Hagan adds that Prince William is probably “fuming” about the way this latest raft of information has come out.
“I don’t think both sides want to get back together,” former newspaper editor Eve Pollard says. Kate and William will have to become the fab two, she adds, rather than the once-dubbed “fab four”.
“They will be furious tonight, they will hurt tonight, and there’ll be tears tonight.”
Away from the Q&A – Prince Harry’s next TV appearance has been confirmed.
The duke will be on The Late Show on CBS with Stephen Colbert on CBS in the US next Tuesday night (Wednesday morning UK time).
That’s as well as doing ITV in the UK with Tom Bradby, and Good Morning America on ABC in the US with Michael Strahan.
Looking at why the media is reporting on Prince Harry and the royals, Mark Borkowski, PR agent and crisis consultant, says “people look at these things and are entertained”.
“This is a public live soap opera with some of the most famous individuals in the world,” he says.
“And lets not forget now that Harry and Meghan are US-based. They are in California. The media there are feeding on the story. The New York Times only a few weeks ago did an op-ed on how the Royal Family should reform.
“It’s headlines across the world.”
He goes on to say this is of “global interest” and people “are fascinated by the lives of celebrities”.
Mark Bukowski, a crisis consultant, doesn’t believe they will.
He says the family have been “graceful” when responding to other allegations, such as those made in the Harry and Meghan Oprah interview.
“How much has Harry and Meghan got left to throw?” he wonders, adding a response could perhaps come before the coronation of King Charles later this year.
Former Express editor Eve Pollard adds: “I would not return the ball… I would not blame the Royal Family for not trusting them.”
Afua Hagan, royal commentator, says a response could come after the three planned media appearances from Prince Harry next week.
Sky News is holding a Q&A with experts on Prince Harry’s claims after his memoir Spare was mistakenly put on shelves in Spain, five days ahead of the official release date.
Looking at why Prince Harry has made this public, former editor of the Sunday Express and Sunday Mirror, Eve Pollard, says the duke is “doing this to get $20 million”.
She says she “understands” he wants to get his story out there but “he is invading everyone else’s privacy”.
Meanwhile, Mark Borkowski, public relations agent and crisis consultant, says this is about “power”, “money” and “status”.
“He is in a bubble, and he is surrounded by people telling him what he needs to do, and he is surrounded by people who are making money off the back of what he is doing,” he adds.
Mr Borkowski goes on to question why Harry has “put a target on his back” by revealing he had killed 25 people in Afghanistan.
Sky News will be holding a live Q&A with a panel of experts at 7pm on the claims made by Prince Harry after his autobiography mistakenly went on sale in Spain.
You can also follow the Q&A here on our live blog.
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