Prince Harry’s Biggest ‘Spare’ Revelations One Year On

When Prince Harry announced in 2021 that he was working on a memoir, written “not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become,” it sent shockwaves through the media as speculation of record-breaking sales and the potential for score-settling with other royals mounted.

Prior to its January 10, 2023, release date, the book sensationally leaked via tabloid news outlets, some of which procured Spanish language copies that had been put on shelves too early, prompting hastily translated excerpts to appear around the world.

The leaks did little to dampen public appetite for the book. It broke world records upon its publication, becoming the fastest selling non-fiction book of all time.

Its content earned Harry praise and criticism, not only for presenting a one-sided account of complicated royal family frictions, but also for revealing more sensitive public issues such as his experimentation with illegal drugs and the disclosure that he killed 25 people during his time in the British Army.

As issues raised by the prince in his book are still being discussed one year on from its publication, here, Newsweek looks at some of the biggest revelations from Spare.

Diana Denial

An early discussion point in Spare was Harry’s relationship with his much-loved mother, Princess Diana, and how her death in 1997 when he was just 12 years old affected him.

One particularly poignant inclusion was the prince’s belief that for many years, his mother was not really dead, but in fact only hiding from the media and paparazzi.

“Soon, she’ll send for me and Willy,” he wrote of his hope at the time of the car accident that ultimately ended her life. “It’s all so obvious! Why didn’t I see it before? Mummy isn’t dead! She’s hiding!”

Drug Use

When recounting his teenage years, Harry wrote about his experimentation with illegal substances, including marijuana and cocaine. Writing about being offered cocaine at a house party with friends, he said: “It wasn’t much fun, and it didn’t make me particularly happy, as it seemed to make everyone around me, but it did make me feel different, and that was the main goal.”

The prince also went on to write about his experiences with hallucinogens such as magic mushrooms and ayahuasca.

The decision to include details about his drug use earned the royal criticism, most notably from right-wing think tank the Heritage Foundation, which petitioned the U.S. government to see if he’d disclosed this information on his visa application.

Virginity Story

Another teenage anecdote included in the book concerned the loss of the prince’s virginity in a field behind a pub, close to King Charles III’s country home, Highgrove.

“She liked horses, quite a lot, and treated me not unlike a young stallion,” Harry wrote of his first sexual partner. “Quick ride, after which she’d smacked my rump and sent me to grace. Among the many things about it that were wrong: It happened in a grassy field behind a busy pub.”

William and Kate’s Nazi Costume Laughter

One of Harry’s most infamous early controversies occurred in 2005, where he was photographed attending a costume party wearing a Nazi uniform.

Though much has circulated in the public domain about the incident, the prince revealed that when he first tired on the outfit it didn’t raise concern from brother, Prince William, or future sister-in-law, Kate Middleton.

“I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. ‘Nazi uniform,’ they said. I rented it, plus a silly mustache, and went back to the house. I tried it all on. They both howled,” he wrote. “Worse than Willy’s leotard outfit! Way more ridiculous!”

‘Don’t Marry Her’

Harry’s strained relationship with his stepmother, Queen Camilla, was one of the main family issues raised by the prince in his memoir. As well as alleging that she leaked stories about him to the press in order to win favorable coverage, he also said he and Prince William pleaded with their father not to marry her in 2005.

“‘You don’t need to remarry,’ we pleaded. A wedding would cause controversy. It would incite the press. It would make the whole country, the whole world, talk about Mummy, compare Mummy and Camilla, and nobody wanted that. Least of all Camilla,” he wrote. “‘We support you,’ we said. ‘We endorse Camilla,’ we said. ‘Just please don’t marry her. Just be together, Pa.'”

Taliban Death Count

Harry served two tours of Afghanistan with the British Army between 2007 and 2013, as part of a career he said brought him purpose, stability and pride.

Recounting the mentally challenging aspects of his role, the prince revealed that he had killed 25 Taliban fighters, something which not only brought criticism from the Taliban themselves after the book’s publication, but also from members of the army community.

“It wasn’t a number that gave me any satisfaction,” he wrote. “But neither was it a number that made me feel ashamed.”

Frostbitten ‘Todger’

One of the most spoofed revelations from Spare was Harry’s account of catching frostbite on his penis after a charity trek to the North Pole in the weeks before Prince William and Kate’s 2011 royal wedding.

“My penis was oscillating between extremely sensitive and borderline traumatized. The last place I wanted to be was Frostnipistan,” he wrote, before adding that in the search of a home remedy he’d been recommended by a friend to try applying an Elizabeth Arden lip cream that had once been a favorite of Princess Diana.

Meghan’s Therapy Ultimatum

A large part of Spare is dedicated to recounting the prince’s romance and relationship with Meghan Markle, who he met on a blind date in London during the summer of 2016.

In the December of that year, Harry revealed for the first time that the couple had a serious argument at his home, Nottingham Cottage in London. “I snapped at her, spoke to her harshly—cruelly,” he wrote. “As the words left my mouth, I could feel everything in the room come to a stop.”

He recounted that Meghan left the room and later told him that she “would never stand for being spoken to like that” by her partner.

Harry wrote that they discussed there was an underlying issue that was probably caused by the arguments he witnessed between his parents as a child.

“‘I’ve tried therapy,’ I told her. ‘Willy told me to go. Never found the right person. Didn’t work’,” he wrote, adding that Meghan told him “softly” to “try again.”

Meghan, Kate and ‘Baby Brain’

Around the time of the May 2018 royal wedding and in the months afterwards Harry wrote that it became clear his wife and sister-in-law, Kate, were not bonding as he’d hoped they would.

After an argument over bridesmaids dresses and a tense moment over borrowed lip gloss, Harry wrote that a summit took place between himself, Meghan, William and Kate at Kensington Palace.

During the discussion, Kate allegedly reprimanded Meghan for telling her she had “baby brain” for forgetting something after giving birth to Prince Louis.

“‘You talked about my hormones. We’re not close enough for you to talk about my hormones!'” Kate told Meghan.

“Meg’s eyes got wide too. She looked genuinely confused,” Harry wrote. “‘I’m sorry I talked about your hormones. That’s just how I talk with my girlfriends.'”

The prince added that: “Willy pointed at Meg,” in Kate’s defense, saying: “‘It’s rude, Meghan. It’s not what’s done here in Britain.'”

Meghan responded by telling William to: “‘Kindly take your finger out of my face.'”

Fraternal Fracas at Kensington Palace

A standout revelation from Harry in Spare was the account of a physical fight that apparently took place at Kensington Palace in 2019, launched by Prince William during an argument over Meghan’s treatment of royal staff.

“It all happened so fast. So very fast,” he wrote. “He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dogs’ bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”

William did not respond to any of the claims made by Harry in the book or interviews promoting it, in line with a blanket “no comment” position adopted by Buckingham Palace.

Queen’s Death Drama

In the final chapter of Spare, Harry wrote about the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and how even the solemn passing of the royal matriarch didn’t develop without family tensions.

The prince wrote that he was left out of plans that saw Prince William and several other senior royals board a private flight from London to Scotland to see the queen as the end drew near.

He wrote that he had an argument with King Charles when told Meghan shouldn’t make the journey as Kate wasn’t doing so, and also revealed that he found out his grandmother had died via a news notification on his phone after chartering his own jet to Scotland.

At Balmoral Castle he spent time with the queen’s body alone, writing: “I whispered to her that I hoped she was happy, that I hoped she was with Grandpa. I said that I was in awe of her carrying out her duties to the last.”

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.