PRINCE Harry has broken his silence on the "sadistic" rumour that Princess Diana's former lover, Major James Hewitt, is his real father.
Speaking in his explosive new memoir Spare, Harry writes how King Charles would often joke that he wasn't the prince's real dad.
Harry said: “He’d laugh and laugh, though it was a remarkably unfunny joke, given the rumour circulating just then that my actual father was one of Mummy’s former lovers: Major James Hewitt."
The duke goes on to add that this rumour, which is rooted in the fact both Harry and James Hewitt have ginger hair, persisted out of “sadism.”
He added: “Readers were delighted by the idea that the younger child of Prince Charles wasn’t the child of Prince Charles. Maybe it made them feel better about their lives that a young prince’s life was laughable.”
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In his memoir, Prince Harry revealed that Kate Middleton was asked to change her name from Catherine because there were too many members of the Royal Family whose names began with 'C'.
However, royal expert Adam Helliker wrote in his piece on the Sunday Express that she had chosen Kate long before when she was still dating William.
The royal expert explained how she was "preparing for her future role."
Harry said that his father thought it would cause confusion when it comes to the cyphers – the personal monogram of a Royal Family member.
However, Kate stuck with Catherine for her royal name and her cypher is in fact CW.
Buckingham Palace is a UK landmark known globally, however, many mistaken it for the most senior royal residence.
However, the most senior is St James’s Palace which is a few metres away.
Queen Elizabeth II never lived there, however, it was the home for some of her children and grandchildren before.
The palace includes a chapel which hosted many weddings and christenings such as that of Meghan Markle before she married Prince Harry.
Take a closer look at the most senior royal household here.
The Duke of Sussex opened up on the time he and his wife Meghan along with his brother William and his wife Kate were getting ready for a royal appearance in 2018.
In his memoir Spare, he recalled when Meghan asked to borrow Kate’s lipstick as she had forgotten hers.
Page Six reported the Prince wrote: “Kate, taken aback, went into her handbag and reluctantly pulled out a small tube.
“Meg squeezed some onto her finger and applied it to her lips. Kate grimaced.”
Harry went on to say the four “should’ve been able to laugh about” the moment, but the press “sensed” it was “something bigger”.
He claimed that Kate must have been “on edge,” as she was now “going to be compared to, and forced to compete with, Meg”.
The Queen rarely commented on Prince Harry's claims regarding how he was treated by the Royal Family.
An insider told The Telegraph that these "ambushes" had left their effects on the Queen's health, who passed away aged 96 on September 8, 2022.
They said: "This did have an impact on the Queen’s health in her final year. It did take its toll."
Another said: "She never wanted to deal with confrontation, even going as far back as the start of Prince Andrew’s troubles, and this stuff was shoved in her face on an almost weekly basis.
“It had an impact. She had lost Prince Philip, and then the constant ambushing of the Royal family by a much-loved grandson did take its toll.
"At that stage in your life and your reign, you just don’t need that on top of everything else.”
Harry claimed that Prince William didn't want him to give a speech at his wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011.
He revealed in his memoir, Spare: "Willy didn’t want me giving a best man’s speech."
Prince Harry was officially classed as his brother's best man for that occasion, however, the memoir that sent shockwaves across the world following bombshells revealed more about the special day.
He claimed that William was "tipsy on last night's rum" just hours before the wedding.
Harry told his brother "you smell of alcohol" before offering him mints and lowering the car window.
Prince Harry will sit down with journalist Tom Bradby in an interview to promote his new memoir, Spare.
You can watch the interview on ITV1 or stream it on ITV tonight at 9pm.
A new clip has been released promoting the interview which includes Tom asking the prince what he thinks his brother would ask him hypothetically.
Harry said that William would probably say: "How could you do this to me?"
The Duke of Sussex said that he'd reply with: "I don't know how staying silent is ever going to make things better."
In the memoir, Spare, set to be released on January 10, Harry revealed his drug taking.
In his book, he wrote about how after his first date with Meghan, “barged into his house off the King’s Road” with a friend.
They drank tequila together and they also smoked weed while watching the Disney cartoon, Inside Out.
Do you think that Harry was right to reveal his drug taking? Answer the poll here.
Harry will have an interview with journalist Tom Bradby on ITV on Sunday night.
The prince will open up on the fight he had with his brother William when he visited his Nottingham Cottage to address the Meghan bully claims.
The Duchess has been accused of bullying two personal assistants out of their jobs and undermining the confidence of another worker.
Meanwhile, a bombshell from Harry’s memoir, Spare, claims that William called Meghan “rude” and “abrasive” before ripping Harry’s necklace and knocking him onto the ground breaking the pet bowl.
A source said: “What Harry does not explain in the book is that the real reason William went to speak with him was to address allegations Meghan was mistreating and bullying staff.
“William went in good faith to talk with his brother after he heard some pretty shocking accusations levelled at Meghan.
“He had been told of allegations Meghan was bullying her staff and wanted to get across to his brother that was not the way things are done in the Royal Family.”
In his memoir, Spare, Prince Harry talks about the time he took Meghan to his mother’s resting place on her 25th death anniversary in 2022.
He wrote: “I was finally bringing the girl of my dreams home so she would meet my mother.”
The prince described how he and Meghan rowed a boat to the island lake memorial on the Spencer Estate, Althorp, in Northants.
He left flowers and then left Meghan to have her own private moment.
Harry added: “When I returned, she was on her knees with her eyes closed and her palms flat against the stone.”
Meghan told him she had asked his mother for “clarity” and “guidance”.
A close pal of the future King told The Sunday Times: "It’s cruel, cowardly and so sad for William to keep taking the punches.
"William is a sitting duck because Harry knows he isn’t going to retaliate."
The 40-year-old is now said to be focusing on Kate and his three kids as leaked allegations from the book spark mayhem.
But he is likely to be thinking strategically over how the Royal Family can move forward from Harry's onslaught.
A royal expert has questioned Prince Harry’s motives for criticising the Royal Family in his upcoming memoir “Spare.”
Speaking to GB News, the BBC’s Royal Correspondent Jennie Bond said: “I think even that title is very revealing. But I want to know, what is it that Harry wants?
“Feuds between brothers, between siblings, go back as far as Cain and Abel if you like.
“There’s nothing new about that. So, what did Harry want? Did he want the destiny into which William was born? Does he want to be King? I think not.”
The 2023 royal calendar will see members of the family take part in a number of events and engagements.
Here’s a look at some of this years royal events and important dates.
Retired military officer Colonel Richard Kemp warned the revelations would increase threats to the safety of both the Duke of Sussex and the Armed Forces.
He said: “It undermines his personal security. He has shot himself in the foot.
“Fighting in Afghanistan, Harry gained a very strong reputation both in the Army and in the country.
“These comments will damage that reputation and he won’t be looked on in quite the same light, by people who thought highly of him before, including me.”
A new interview with Prince Harry and ITV News presenter Tom Bradby is set to air this weekend.
The in-depth discussion will air on ITV1 at 9pm on Sunday, two days before the publication of Harry’s bombshell memoir, Spare.
It will also be available to stream on ITVX.
ITV confirmed it has recorded a long interview with Harry.
Prince Harry has been under fire after being accused of putting British troops at risk of revenge attacks.
It comes after he revealed he killed 25 Taliban militants during a combat tour of Afghanistan.
Retired military officer Colonel Richard Kemp said the wayward heir’s comments betrayed comrades he fought alongside.
The former commander of troops in Afghanistan warned the revelations would increase threats to the safety of both the Duke and the Armed Forces.
Harry may regret his comments after the intense backlash from former military personnel.
The brothers’ difficulties have been speculated about for years, but royal expert Ingrid Seward claims it has always been a tricky relationship.
She told The Sun: “Harry and William have always had this rivalry and the idea that they were always great friends simply isn’t true.
“I believe Harry’s life with William was a fight from early childhood right up until William went away on his gap year.
“After William returned Harry said, ‘I get on much better with him now. He’s changed a lot’.”
Prince Harry has revealed what he got up to after his first date with Meghan Markle.
After telling a pal about the meeting, Harry said he “barged into his house off the King’s Road” and they started drinking together.
He wrote: “Out came the tequila.
“Out came the weed.
“We drank and smoked and watched… Inside Out.”
Harry described himself as feeling “peacefully numb” and said it was “good weed, dude”.
Pen Farthing reported on Friday that he has been forced to leave Kabul, abandoning his work with animal shelters, due to the “potential reprisal attacks on ex-forces people like me.”
Farthing had earlier tweeted in fury: “Well I was a Royalist until today…Cheers #PrinceHarry. You have been very badly advised I would probably say.
“And glad you thought through the security implications of those of us still out in #Afghanistan trying to bring about some good. #idiot #notmyprince”.
His anger was not without cause as he later explained in a tweet: “I have had to evac from #Kabul tonight”.
Writing in his memoir, Prince Harry claimed he would "keep his distance" when Princess Margaret visited.
He wrote: “Growing up, I felt nothing for her except a bit of pity and a lot of jumpiness.
“Mostly, whenever she was around I kept my distance.
“On those rarer-than-rare occasions when our paths crossed, when she deigned to take notice of me, to speak to me, I’d wonder if she had any opinion of me.
“It seemed that she didn’t. Or else, given her tone, her coldness, the opinion wasn’t much.”
Back in 2021, Meghan claimed Archie wasn't made a prince after "concerns and conversations" about "how dark" his skin would be when he was born.
The Duchess of Sussex said there had been conversations with Harry and a "family" member about their unborn son – and "what that would mean or look like".
But Meg declined to say who had started those conversations, saying it would be "damaging" for them.
Harry himself said he would "never share" the full details of the discussion.
Although he confirmed it was not the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh who made the alleged comments, Harry has to this day still not clarified who it was.
Speaking in his upcoming memoir Spare, Prince Harry revealed he watched Meghan Markle’s raunchy sex scenes from hit show Suits.
Harry writes: “I’d witnessed her and a castmate mauling each other in some sort of office or conference room.
“I didn’t need to see such things live.”
He jokingly added that he needed “electric shock therapy” to erase the images from his mind.
In bombshell extracts from his book, Harry, 38, claims Wills called Meg “rude” and “abrasive” then ripped his necklace as he knocked him onto the ground and broke the pet bowl.
In an interview with journalist pal Tom Bradby, which is on ITV on Sunday night, Harry will blame William’s ”red mist” and say his brother urged him to “hit back”.
But we can reveal the kitchen fight started when William, 40, popped to Harry's Nottingham Cottage to address the Meghan bully claims.
Meg, 41, had been accused of bullying two personal assistants out of their jobs and undermining the confidence of a third worker.
A Buckingham Palace investigation into the claims finished last year has been buried to save fresh revelations coming public.
Friends of the late monarch have now said there is no doubt the attacks by Harry and Meghan Markle had an impact on her frail condition.
One told The Telegraph: “This did have an impact on the Queen’s health in her final year. It did take its toll."
They said Harry's “almost weekly” attacks were especially painful as he was much loved by the Queen.
Royal photographer, Arthur Edwards, has claimed that Prince Harry's comments that King Charles has made no attempt to reconcile with him are "rubbish".
Writing in his comment article for The Sun Online, Arthur said: "Harry's insistence that he has made no attempt to reconcile with him is just rubbish.
"Let's look at the facts.
"Last year when Her Majesty the Queen died Charles made sure Harry was a key part of the state occasions.
"He allowed him to wear his uniform at the Queen's vigil.
"He gave him a prime position at the funeral.
"He allowed him to do the walkabout with Prince William at Windsor, meeting grieving members of the public.
"And, perhaps most significantly, Charles spoke lovingly of him and Meghan in his first speech as our new King.
"These are not the actions of someone who has no wish to reconcile."
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