Bereaved boy, troubled teen, wartime soldier, unhappy royal B次元官网网址� many facets of Prince Harry are revealed in his explosive memoir, often in eyebrow-raising detail.
From accounts of cocaine use and losing his virginity to raw family rifts, B次元官网网址淪pareB次元官网网址� exposes deeply personal details about Harry and the wider royal family.
The Associated Press purchased a copy of the Spanish-language edition of the book ahead of its publication around the world on Tuesday. Its revelations have electrified the British media B次元官网网址� but have been met with silence from Buckingham Palace.
BROTHER AND SON
The book opens with a quote from American writer William Faulkner: B次元官网网址淭he past is never dead. ItB次元官网网址檚 not even past.B次元官网网址�
HarryB次元官网网址檚 story is dominated by his rivalry with elder brother Prince William and the death of the boysB次元官网网址� mother, Princess Diana, in 1997. Harry, who was 12 at the time, has never forgiven the media for DianaB次元官网网址檚 death in a car crash while being pursued by photographers.
The loss of his mother haunts the book, which Harry dedicates to wife Meghan, children Archie and Lili B次元官网网址渁nd, of course, my mother.B次元官网网址�
The opening chapter recounts how his father Prince Charles B次元官网网址� now King Charles III B次元官网网址� broke the news of his motherB次元官网网址檚 accident, but didnB次元官网网址檛 give his son a hug.
Harry reveals that years later he asked his driver to take him through the Pont de lB次元官网网址橝lma tunnel in Paris, site of the fatal crash, hoping in vain that it would help end a B次元官网网址渄ecade of unrelenting pain. He also says he once consulted a woman who claimed to have B次元官网网址減owersB次元官网网址� and to be able to pass on messages from Diana.
Harry adds that he and William both B次元官网网址渂eggedB次元官网网址� their father not to marry his long-term paramour Camilla Parker-Bowles, worried she would become a B次元官网网址渨icked stepmother.B次元官网网址�
Harry also is tormented by his status as royal B次元官网网址渟pareB次元官网网址� behind William, who is heir to the British throne. Harry recounts a longstanding sibling rivalry that worsened after Harry began a relationship with American actress Meghan Markle, whom he married in 2018.
He says that during an argument in 2019, William called Meghan B次元官网网址渄ifficultB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渞ude,B次元官网网址� then grabbed him by the collar and knocked him down. Harry suffered cuts and bruises from landing on a dog bowl.
Harry says Charles implored the brothers to make up, saying after the funeral of Prince Philip in 2021: B次元官网网址淧lease, boys. DonB次元官网网址檛 make my final years a misery.B次元官网网址�
Neither Buckingham Palace, which represents King Charles III, nor WilliamB次元官网网址檚 Kensington Palace office has commented on any of the allegations.
WILD TEENAGE YEARS
The memoir suggests the mediaB次元官网网址檚 party-boy image of Harry during his teen and young adult years was well-deserved.
Harry describes how he lost his virginity at 17 B次元官网网址� in a field behind a pub to an older woman who loved horses and treated the teenage prince like a B次元官网网址測oung stallion.B次元官网网址� It was, he says, a B次元官网网址渉umiliating episode.B次元官网网址�
He also says he took cocaine several times starting at the same age, in order B次元官网网址渢o feel. To be different.B次元官网网址� He also acknowledges using cannabis and magic mushrooms B次元官网网址� which made him hallucinate that a toilet was talking to hm.
ARMY REVELATIONS
Harry spent a decade in the British Army, serving twice in Afghanistan. He says that on his second tour, as an Apache helicopter co-pilot and gunner in 2012-2013, he killed 25 Taliban militants. Harry says he felt neither satisfaction nor shame about his actions, and in the heat of battle regarded enemy combatants as pieces being removed from a chessboard, B次元官网网址淏addies eliminated before they could kill Goodies.B次元官网网址�
Veterans criticized the comments and said they could increase the security risk for Harry. Retired Col. Richard Kemp said it was B次元官网网址渁n error of judgment,B次元官网网址� and regarding enemy fighters as chess pieces is B次元官网网址渘ot the way the British Army trains people.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚 think that sort of comment that doesnB次元官网网址檛 reflect reality is misleading and potentially valuable to those people who wish the British forces and British government harm,B次元官网网址� he told the BBC.
The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi called the Western invasion of Afghanistan B次元官网网址渙diousB次元官网网址� and said HarryB次元官网网址檚 comments B次元官网网址渁re a microcosm of the trauma experienced by Afghans at the hands of occupation forces who murdered innocents without any accountability.B次元官网网址�
PERSONAL JOURNEY
Harry credits Meghan with changing the way he sees the world and himself. He says he was B次元官网网址渨rapped in privilegeB次元官网网址� and had no understanding of unconscious bias before he met her.
The young prince notoriously wore a Nazi uniform to a costume party in 2005, and claims in the book that William and his now-wife Kate encouraged the choice of outfit and B次元官网网址渉owledB次元官网网址� with laughter when they saw it. He was recorded using a racist term about a fellow soldier of Pakistani descent in 2006, but says he did not know the word was a slur.
Meghan and Harry cited the U.K. mediaB次元官网网址檚 treatment of the biracial American actress as one of the main reasons for their decision to quit royal duties and move to the U.S. in 2020.
The book gives no sign that royal family relations will be repaired soon. Harry told ITV in an interview to promote the book that he wants reconciliation, but that there must be B次元官网网址渁ccountabilityB次元官网网址� first.
In the final pages, Harry describes how he and William walked side by side during the funeral procession of Queen Elizabeth II in September, but spoke barely a word to one another.
B次元官网网址淭he next day, Meg and I returned to the United States,B次元官网网址� he says.
By Jill Lawless
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
