Prince Harry book latest: Duke reveals he cried once after Diana’s death in new trailer

As a cathartic act of a man deeply resentful of the way he believes his family and the media have treated him and his wife, Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, has much to commend it.

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Prince Harry has reflected on being “unable to show any emotion” while greeting mourners after the death of his mother Diana.

The Duke of Sussex also revealed he only cried “once” after the former Princess of Wales was killed in a car crash in Paris, 25 years ago.

These comments are part of a new teaser clip for Harry’s forthcoming interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby to promote his new memoir Spare.

My colleague Maanya Sachdeva has more:

Prince Harry has shared details of an alleged row over whether he and his brother Prince William should walk behind their mother’s coffin at her funeral, reports say.

His leaked memoir Spare recalls Princess Diana’s brother Earl Spencer objecting verbally to an idea for the two young princes to flank their mother’s funeral cortege, describing it as “a barbarity”, according to The Telegraph.

But a second plan drawn up to replace the first was rejected by Prince Harry, he claims, which would have required the Prince of Wales, then aged 15, to walk alone behind the coffin.

The Duke of Sussex claims he did not want his brother to undergo the ordeal by himself, the newspaper reports.

Prince Harry has reportedly opened up about his “tainted” romance with Caroline Flack and reflected on the TV presenter’s death, in his leaked memoir.

Sections from the book have been quoted by the UK press after the memoir was accidentally put on sale on 5 January in Spain. The book was officially supposed to be released next Tuesday (10 January).

These include claims Prince William allegedly physically attacked the Duke of Sussex during a confrontation over Harry’s wife Meghan Markle in 2019.

My colleague Maanya Sachdeva reports:

Royal biographer Jonathan Dimbleby has suggested that King Charles will be “extremely pained” by Prince Harry’s forthcoming book.

“I can only imagine he is extremely pained, very frustrated and would be very anxious to bring it to an end,” he told the Today show, “because his concern, as he has demonstrated since he came to the throne impeccably, is to act as head of state for a nation which we all know is in pretty troubled condition.”

Dimbleby has reportedly remained friends with the new King since Charles famously revealed he had been unfaithful to Diana after their marriage broke down during a 1994 ITV interview with him, nearly 30 years ago.

The author of Charles’s biography said he would be “very suprised” if Harry wasn’t invited to his father’s coronation in May because “that would fuel the flames”.

Royal biographer Jonathan Dimbleby has said Prince Harry’s leaked memoir contains revelations one would expect from “a kind of B-list celebrity”, reports my colleague Maanya Sachdeva.

Mr Dimbleby told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he was “perplexed” and “at a loss” over Harry’s memoir, calling the duke a “very troubled man”.

“I’m concerned, incidentally, that everyone uses the word ‘revelations’,” the 78-year-old broadcaster said. “Yes, there are obviously revelations about how he lost his virginity, taking drugs, and how many people he feels he might have shot down from his Apache. But those are the kind of revelations, in part, that you would expect, I suppose, from a B-list celebrity.

What is “much more significant”, Dimbleby continued, are Harry’s “allegations, complaints” against the royal family. “His assertion that this is his side because so far there has only been one side. It seems to me I’ve not heard the other side at all, because the other side is always silent,” Dimbleby said.

Prince Harry has reportedly recalled how Meghan Markle placed pregnancy tests on his nightstand, next to a box containing a lock of his late mother Princess Diana’s hair, as the couple were trying to concieve their first child.

According to the MailOnline, Harry writes that Meghan took two at-home pregnancy tests in the bathroom of Nottingham Cottage in 2018, and he awoke to find that she had placed the two tests on his nightstand.

Among only “a few things” on the nightstand was a “blue box with my mother’s hair”, he reportedly writes, recalling: “Right, I thought, good. Let’s see what Mummy can do with this situation”.

The couple soon discovered that the tests were positive, and Harry reportedly describes thinking to himself: “Thank you, Mummy.”

Prince Harry has reportedly addressed the scandal involving “Uncle Andrew” in his leaked book Spare.

According to US Weekly, which said it had obtained a copy of the memoir, the Duke of Sussex wrote that he “never imagined” he’d lose palace security after his uncle was permitted to retain it.

In January 2022, Andrew was stripped off his royal title after he was accused of sexual assault by one of Epstein’s trafficking victims, Virginia Guiffre. He previously claimed he had no recollection of ever meeting Giuffre and vehemently denied Giuffre’s allegation.

In his book, Harry reportedly wrote that Meghan worried their family would be left unprotected after they moved to Montecito, California, and he reassured her, saying: “Never. Not in this climate of hate. Not after what happened to my mother [Princess Diana]. Also, not in the wake of my Uncle Andrew.”

“He was embroiled in a shameful scandal, accused of the sexual assault of a young woman and no one had so much suggested that he lose his security. Whatever grievances people had against us, sex crimes weren’t on the list,” he reportedly writes.

The Independent has contacted representatives for Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, and Penguin Random House for comment.

Prince Harry’s forthcoming book will be published on the day after the Princess of Wales’s 41st birthday.

Prince William and his wife have been left “reeling” by the allegations in the book, a senior royal source who reportedly knows the couple told Page Six, adding: “Harry and Meghan do always have a knack of picking their timing.”