Harry's Hits on 'Archnemesis' William Keep on Coming

In another leak from upcoming memoir, Harry says Will, Kate encouraged 2005 Nazi costume
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 5, 2023 9:35 AM CST
Harry's Hits on 'Archnemesis' William Keep on Coming
Britain's Prince William and Prince Harry are seen in Windsor, England, on Sept. 10 after viewing floral tributes for the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Windsor Castle.   (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

Prince Harry's memoir, Spare, is due out Tuesday, but some of the more explosive excerpts are already trickling out. On Wednesday it was reported that Harry details in his book a physical attack against him by his older brother, Prince William, in 2019 on the grounds of Kensington Palace. Now, another leak, courtesy of Page Six, which reports that Harry lays some of the blame for his donning of a Nazi costume at a 2005 party on William and Kate Middleton, who was then William's girlfriend. Harry writes in Spare that William and Kate egged him on to wear the controversial outfit for a party with a "Native and Colonial" theme when he asked whether he should wear that or dress up as a pilot. When Harry later tried the Nazi outfit on for them, he writes the pair "howled" with laughter.

Royal historian Robert Lacey had previously written in his 2020 book Battle of Brothers that Harry's Nazi costume may have been when trouble really started brewing between the royal siblings, as Harry took the fall for the controversy while William walked away "smelling of roses," per Lacey. "It made Harry feel resentful and even alienated," Lacey wrote. The Duke of Sussex has since said that wearing the costume was one of the biggest mistakes of his life, which leads an anonymous senior publishing source to wonder aloud why he's now putting some of the onus on William. "It's strange, as you would think that Harry would take ownership of this and just move on and not drag his brother into it, but he makes it clear that he feels strongly about William's role in the scandal," the source tells Page Six. The New York Post has yet another nugget from Spare that references the book's title.

Harry writes that on the day he was born in September 1984, then-Prince Charles told Princess Diana, Harry's mother: "Wonderful! Now you've given me an heir and a spare—my work is done." The Post notes that comment caused Harry lifelong "unshakable pain." And from TMZ: Harry refers to William in the book as his "beloved brother and archnemesis." In a clip from an interview with Good Morning America's Michael Strahan set to air Monday, the younger prince defends his revelations, noting, "I don't think that we can ever have peace with my family unless the truth is out there." Meanwhile, the Daily Beast notes that Penguin Random House, the publisher of Harry's memoir, must be pretty peeved right about now, as it "had launched a massive security operation to try and keep the contents of the book secret until Tuesday's launch." The UK royals have so far declined to comment, per the Telegraph. (More Prince Harry stories.)

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