Prince Harry accuses brother William of 2019 physical attack
LONDON – Britain’s Prince Harry recounts in his new book how he was physically “attacked” by his older brother Prince William during an argument in 2019, reported British newspaper The Guardian on Wednesday.
According to the newspaper, the story of the incident appears in Prince Harry’s new memoir Spare, which is due to be released on Tuesday amid an ongoing row within the British royal family.
Prince Harry, 38, writes that during a disagreement in the kitchen of his London home, Prince William called his wife Meghan Markle difficult, rude and abrasive, before tackling him to the ground as the pair continued to argue, said The Guardian.
“He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me,” The Guardian quotes Prince Harry’s book as saying.
Prince Harry then told his brother to leave. Prince William looked “regretful and apologised”, he recalled, according to the newspaper.
The daily quoted the exchange between the two princes from the book: Prince William “turned and called back: ‘You don’t need to tell Meg about this.’
‘You mean that you attacked me?‘
‘I didn’t attack you, Harold’,” Prince William responded, seeming to use a nickname for Prince Harry.
The latest reveal about the brothers’ tumultuous relationship comes as their father King Charles prepares for his coronation in May, following the September death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II at age 96.
Prince Harry and Markle, 41, lifted the lid on their experiences in the British royal family in a Netflix docuseries in December about the reasons behind their stunning 2020 departure for North America.
In it, they blamed much of their unhappiness on racist media reports and tabloid harassment, some of which they say the family instigated.
Their move to California, Markle’s home state, has made the two unpopular in Britain, where they are often portrayed by the media as selfish.
In excerpts of a television interview to ITV in Britain and CBS in the United States out this week ahead of the book release, Prince Harry said he wants “a family, not an institution”.
He added: “I would like to get my father back. I would like to get my brother back.” - AFP
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