Prince Harry has revealed his final words to his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II when he was taken to see her body after she died, among a host a host of other revelations in his autobiography Spare.
The Duke of Sussex travelled to Balmoral to see his grandmother on September 8 last year when news broke of her ill health, but he did not arrive in time before she died.
Now, he has revealed his parting words to the monarch, Page Six reports.
He said he whispered his hope ‘she would be happy’ and reunited with his grandfather Prince Philip, who died a year previously aged 99.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Queen Elizabeth II at the Queen’s Young Leaders Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace in June 2018
The Queen passed away at Balmoral on September 8, 2022. She’s pictured here leaving church on her Sandringham estate on December 25, 2019
He also revealed in the book, which comes out on January 10, that he ‘admired her for having fulfilled her duties until the very end’ – referencing her attendance at the festivities for her Platinum Jubilee despite her frailty.
The prince then wrote that he walked out of the room and called his wife Meghan to describe the poignant scene.
The revelations in the Duke of Sussex’s highly anticipated autobiography have caused much consternation since details were leaked yesterday.
The memoir’s claims were detailed by the Guardian’s New York breaking news reporter Martin Pengelly on its website.
Titled ‘Spare’, the book explores the prince’s troubled relationship with the rest of his family as the younger brother of the heir to the throne.
One noteworthy recollection by Prince Harry includes a clash with his brother William over Meghan Markle in the grounds of Kensington Palace in 2019. The Prince of Wales is said to have referred to her as ‘difficult’, rude’ and ‘abrasive’, which Harry responds as a ‘parrot[ing of] the press narrative’.
Prince Harry arrives at Balmoral shortly after his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II passed away
Prince Harry walks alongside his wife Meghan and Catherine, Princess of Wales, at the Palace of Westminster at the lying-in-state of the Queen
Prince Harry (pictured centre) with his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, grandfather Prince Philip and brother Prince William at the wedding of Lady Tamara Katherine Grosvenor & Edward Van Cutsem in 2004
The Duke of Sussex goes on to claim that his brother ‘grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and … knocked me to the floor.’
Elsewhere, Harry recalls another angry confrontation with his brother at Windsor Castle after the death of the Duke of Edinburgh in April 2021. He describes his father remonstrating with them, saying: ‘Please, boys. Don’t make my final years a misery.’
Elsewhere, the prince mentions names they used to refer to each other by and adds that he later discussed their fallout with his therapist.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had been midway through a European tour, in which they had celebrated the countdown to the next Invictus Games, in autumn last year when news broke that Queen Elizabeth was ill.
On the day the monarch died, the duo had been preparing to attend the Wellchild Awards – which the prince has been patron of since 2007 – but cancelled their appearance when news of the Queen’s ill health became known.
Prince Harry claims in his upcoming biography that he only learned of his grandmother’s death through the media while he was travelling to see her.
Harry also revealed that he and his brother had countless physical fights from childhood upwards.
One of the worst in recent years was over the way in which William purportedly shared his views on Meghan.
Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave after a service of thanksgiving for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II at St Paul’s Cathedral
Harry, Meghan, William and Kate at Westminster Abbey in March 2018
Meghan being interviewed during her and Harry’s recent Netflix documentary
A source said: ‘Harry doesn’t hold back on William, He writes that William told him: “Meg is difficult, she’s rude, she’s abrasive. She’s been rude to the staff.”
‘Harry says that William called him names, that he wanted Harry to agree with him but that he became enraged when Harry “had the audacity not to follow the script”. William grabbed him by the collar, ripping his necklace and pushed him to the floor.’
More allegations look set to emerge not only from the book but during a third television interview, the Mail has learned.
As well as television appearances with Anderson Cooper in the US and Tom Bradby for Britain’s ITV, Harry has granted another interview to broadcaster and former American football player Michael Strahan.
The 90-minute interview with Strahan is expected to be broadcast on US television early next week to coincide with Tuesday’s official book launch.
A source said: ‘There will be many more revelations and discussion about the book so the Royal Family will want to brace themselves.’
The issue of racism is tackled elsewhere in the autobiography, when Prince Harry addresses his notorious Nazi uniform scandal.
But the Duke appears to blame Prince William and Kate for his choice of attire at the costume party in 2005.
The Duke of Sussex says in his new memoir – where he is also expected to detail resigning from royal duties along with wife Meghan – they both thought it was funny.
Harry claims he was considering either the Nazi uniform or a pilot’s outfit to a ‘Native and Colonial’ themed event and called his brother and sister-in-law for their opinion.
‘I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said,’ Harry wrote, according to Page Six.
Prince Harry partially blamed both his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate for his infamous appearance at a costume party wearing a Nazi uniform
‘They both howled. Worse than Willy’s leotard outfit! Way more ridiculous! Which, again, was the point.’
The outfit became a huge scandal when Harry, then 20, was photographed wearing the Nazi regalia.
The story made global headlines after an image of Harry in the costume featured on the front page of The Sun newspaper.
The Duke of Sussex wore the Nazi uniform at a party thrown by Olympic show jumper Richard Meade.
Harry – seen here with William in 2021 – asked his brother and sister-in-law for advice on whether to wear a Nazi uniform or a pilot uniform to the party
Harry said William and Kate, seen here in 2020, ‘howled’ with laughter when Harry asked whether he should wear the Nazi costume
The theme of the event – held to mark the birthday of Mr Meade’s son Harry – was ‘native and colonial’.
Harry wore the desert uniform of General Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps.
Earlier in the evening he had worn an army-style jacket with a German flag on the arm.
Harry had arrived with his elder brother Prince William, who reportedly dressed in a skin-tight black leotard with a leopard skin pattern and a matching leopard skin tail and paws.
One guest told the Daily Mail afterwards: ‘If this was his idea of a joke then it went down like a lead balloon.’
Harry issued a groveling apology shortly after the image was published.
He said: ‘I am very sorry if I have caused any offence or embarrassment to anyone. It was a poor choice of costume and I apologise.’
Addressing the issue in his Netflix series, Harry said that dressing as a Nazi was one of the ‘biggest mistakes’ of his life.
The Duke of Sussex expressed regret for his 2005 gaffe and said all he ‘wanted to do was make it right.’
He said he met with the chief rabbi and also spoke to a Holocaust survivor as part of efforts to repair the damage done by the gaffe.
At the time, the chief rabbi was Jonathan Sacks, who passed away in 2020.
Harry, pictured in 2004, issued a grovelling apology shortly after the image was published. He said: ‘I am very sorry if I have caused any offence or embarrassment to anyone. It was a poor choice of costume and I apologise’
Prince Harry has said in his new Netflix series that dressing as a Nazi was one of the ‘biggest mistakes’ of his life
The Duke of Sussex said: ‘It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life.
‘I felt so ashamed afterwards.
‘All I wanted to do was make it right. I sat down and spoke to the chief rabbi in London, which had a profound impact on me.
‘I went to Berlin and spoke to a Holocaust survivor.
‘I could have got on and ignored it and made the same mistakes over and over in my life but I learnt from that.’
Spare tells Harry’s story with ‘raw, unflinching honesty’, according to Penguin Random House.
Publishing sources said arrangements for Harry’s ‘explosive’ memoir’s release were ultra-closely guarded and being managed in minute detail, with only a handful of senior executives aware of the exact details.
Deliveries to bookshops are being scheduled to be last-minute to avoid unauthorised copies being leaked. Guarded sites across the world have been secured to house copies of the book prior to distribution.
One source compared the complex security operation to the 2007 release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
An army of guards, satellite tracking systems and legal contracts were all deployed to protect the first ten million copies of JK Rowling’s seventh Harry Potter book. When the finished manuscript was taken by hand from London to New York, a lawyer for the American publisher sat on it during the flight.