Prince Harry Alleges Prince William Physically Attacked Him

Prince Harry alleges that his brother, Prince William, physically attacked him in a shocking new excerpt from his upcoming tell-all memoir, Spare. The Duke of Sussex claims that things got physical with the Prince of Wales over an argument regarding Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, according to a new excerpt obtained by The Guardian.

Harry describes the altercation as taking place in 2019 in his London home when William allegedly called Markle “difficult,” “rude” and “abrasive,” which Harry said was parroting the “press narrative” about his wife, as per The Guardian. The conversation quickly turned into a shouting match, which was in line with similar situations described by Harry in his recent Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan.

William allegedly accused Harry of acting like an heir, and didn’t understand why his younger brother was not happy to be “the spare.” Insults were exchanged back and forth before Harry said William swore while stepping toward him. Scared of what would happen next, Harry said he walked to the kitchen and offered his brother water as William followed behind, angry.

“Willy, I can’t speak to you when you’re like this,” Harry wrote, per the excerpt. “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 claimed his brother encouraged him to hit back, calling upon fights they had growing up, but Harry said he refused to do so, which caused William to leave. Later, the prince returned, “looking regretful, and apologized.” William reportedly asked Harry not to tell Markle about the fight, which the Duke held to, calling instead his therapist. It wasn’t long before the “scrapes and bruises” were noticed by Markle, however, prompting Harry to tell her the truth. 

The Duchess of Sussex “wasn’t that surprised, wasn’t all that angry,” but she was “terribly sad,” Harry wrote. Harry will open up further in two interviews – both airing Sunday – on ITV and to Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, ahead of the release of Spare. In previews for these interviews, Harry has said his family has “shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile” with him.