How the Palace Responded to Prince Harry’s Allegation That William Physically Assaulted Him Over Meghan Markle
Prince Harry’s memoir Spare isn’t officially out until next Tuesday, but The Guardian managed to get a copy in advance—and leaked one of the most jarring passages from the book. The outlet reports that Harry alleges in Spare that a 2019 discussion with his brother Prince William led to William insulting Meghan and then physically assaulting Harry.
Hello! reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment about the extracts from the book that the Guardian published, including the passage about William’s alleged physical assault of Harry. Following the approach the royal family took for Meghan and Harry’s Netflix documentary series just weeks ago, the Palace “refused to comment,” Hello! wrote.
Whether the royal family will continue maintaining a business-as-usual attitude and ignoring Harry and Meghan divulging their mistreatment of them, time will tell. But Harry and Meghan’s claims, from suggesting William authorized an aide to testify against Meghan in her Mail on Sunday lawsuit to saying plainly that William’s press office planted negative tabloid stories about them, have painted a disturbing picture of the royal family’s conduct and especially William’s.
Of the altercation described in Spare, Harry wrote, per The Guardian, that William had come over to Nottingham Cottage, where Harry was living at the time, with the intentions of talking about “the whole rolling catastrophe” of their relationship and struggles with the press. It was 2019, and Meghan and Harry were newlyweds.
Harry wrote that William arrived “piping hot.” The now-Prince of Wales called Meghan “difficult,” “rude,” and “abrasive,” and Harry said his brother’s insults were a “parrot[ing of] the press narrative” about Meghan and that he expected better from him. This led to the two arguing and swapping insults. William told Harry he was trying to help.
Harry responded, “Are you serious? Help me? Sorry—is that what you call this? Helping me?” That comment provoked William, who “swore while stepping towards him,” The Guardian wrote. Harry went to the kitchen, scared, with William following.
The Guardian then shared vivid details of William’s alleged physical assault that Harry described in the book:
Harry writes that he gave his brother a glass of water and said: “Willy, I can’t speak to you when you’re like this.”
He writes: “He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. 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. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
Harry writes that William urged him to hit back, citing fights they had as children. Harry says he refused to do so. William left, Harry says, then returned “looking regretful, and apologized.”
When William left again, his brother writes, he “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.’”
Harry shared he didn’t immediately tell Meghan about what happened but called his therapist. Meghan found out later though when she noticed “scrapes and bruises” on his back. Harry told her what happened, and wrote that Meghan “wasn’t that surprised, and wasn’t all that angry. She was terribly sad.”
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
