Prince Harry sensationally claims he wasn't actually William's best man at 2011 wedding

Prince Harry has sensationally claimed he was forced to go along with his brother’s ‘bare-faced lie’ that he was the best man at his wedding in 2011.

The Duke revealed his rift with his older sibling meant ‘Willy didn’t want me giving a best man’s speech’, according to his bombshell memoir, Spare.

In an extraordinarily personal revelation, Harry claims he was made to act out the role of best man to spare the blushes of Prince William’s two closest friends.

The Duke was officially considered his brother’s best man at the nuptial and even travelled with his father and future King to Westminster Abbey in a Bentley that day.

But in the latest in a string of ‘truth-bombs’ lobbed at the Royal Family, Harry declares the best man stunt was all for show and his brother’s friends, James Meade and Thomas Van Straubenzee, gave the traditional speech at the reception.

Prince William and his wife Kate on their wedding day on April 29, 2011, followed by Prince Harry and Kate's Maid of Honour and sister, Pippa Middleton

Prince William and his wife Kate on their wedding day on April 29, 2011, followed by Prince Harry and Kate’s Maid of Honour and sister, Pippa Middleton

Prince Harry has sensationally claimed he was forced to go along with his brother's 'bare-faced lie' that he was the best man at his wedding in 2011 (pictured at Westminster Abbey above)

Prince Harry has sensationally claimed he was forced to go along with his brother’s ‘bare-faced lie’ that he was the best man at his wedding in 2011 (pictured at Westminster Abbey above)

Thomas van Straubenzee attends the Jerudong Trophy charity polo match at Cirencester Park Polo Club on May 25, 2018

James Meade arrives for the wedding of Katie Percy to Patrick Valentine at St Michael's Church on February 26, 2011 in Alnwick, England

Prince William’s close friends, Thomas Van Straubenzee (left) and James Meade (right), gave the traditional best man’s speech at the couple’s reception – rather than Prince Harry

In an extraordinarily personal revelation, Harry claims he was made to act out the role of best man at his brother's 2011 wedding to spare the blushes of Prince William's two closest friends

In an extraordinarily personal revelation, Harry claims he was made to act out the role of best man at his brother’s 2011 wedding to spare the blushes of Prince William’s two closest friends

Harry's remarks are the latest in his deeply personal war of words with William, whom he has already accused of pushing him over onto a dog bowl during a blazing row at Nottingham Cottage in 2019

Harry’s remarks are the latest in his deeply personal war of words with William, whom he has already accused of pushing him over onto a dog bowl during a blazing row at Nottingham Cottage in 2019

In other claims, the Prince tells how William was meeting people who had assembled on the Mall by Buckingham Palace while ‘tipsy on last night’s rum’ just hours before his wedding to Kate. 

Harry recalls he said to him: ‘You smell of alcohol’, before he offered him mints as he lowered the windows of the car, describing the smell of ‘the aftermath of last night’s rum’ on his ‘tipsy’ brother’s breath. 

His remarks are the latest in his deeply personal war of words with William, whom he has already accused of pushing him over onto a dog bowl during a blazing row at Nottingham Cottage in 2019.

Harry’s claims are the latest devastating broadside against his older brother, with William the central target for much of the Duke’s ire within the 557 pages of Spare.

Harry has also alleged that there was a fight between him and the Prince of Wales after his brother called Meghan Markle ‘difficult’, ‘rude’ and ‘abrasive’. 

His bombshell book claims the row in Nottingham Cottage – his Kensington Palace flat – ended with William grabbing him by the collar and throwing him to the floor, shattering a dog bowl. His back was scraped and bruised, he said 

Harry has talked openly of wanting to reconcile with his father and his sibling, despite his extraordinary claims plunging the Royal Family into its worst crisis since the death of his mother in 1997. 

Harry has also alleged that there was a fight between him and the Prince of Wales after he called Meghan Markle 'difficult', 'rude' and 'abrasive'. Pictured together after the Queen's death in September 2022

Harry has also alleged that there was a fight between him and the Prince of Wales after he called Meghan Markle ‘difficult’, ‘rude’ and ‘abrasive’. Pictured together after the Queen’s death in September 2022 

MailOnline has contacted spokespersons for Prince Harry and Prince William.

In a newly released clip from ITV’s forthcoming interview with Harry, the duke said his brother was so frustrated during the ‘Nott Cott’ incident which reportedly took place in 2019, he saw ‘red mist in him’.

‘He wanted me to hit him back, but I chose not to,’ he said of his brother. In the clip released early today, Harry said to his friend Mr Bradby: ‘What was different here was the level of frustration, and I talk about the red mist that I had for so many years, and I saw this red mist in him.’

The short clip from the ITV interview, which is due to be aired on Sunday, also had Harry addressing the drug use detailed in Spare.

Mr Bradby said to the duke: ‘There’s a fair amount of drugs [in the book]. Marijuana, magic mushrooms, cocaine. I mean, that’s going to surprise people.’

The duke appeared to agree and says it was ‘important to acknowledge’.

The royal also stated he wants to reconcile with his family – something which he says cannot happen without ‘some accountability’.

‘I want reconciliation,’ he says, ‘but, first, there needs to be some accountability’. The duke also said: ‘The truth, supposedly, at the moment, has been there’s only one side of the story, right? But, there’s two sides to every story.’

Other rows have also emerged in Harry’s book. William is said to have tore into Meghan after she made comments about ‘baby brain’ during a meeting which was meant to ‘relax the atmosphere’ between the couples.

The Prince and Princess of Wales invited Harry and Meghan to their flat at Kensington Palace after a series of rows including one where Kate was reportedly reduced to tears during a bridesmaid dress fitting for Charlotte.

But the chat over tea and biscuits in June 2018 – weeks after the Sussexes’ Windsor wedding – descended into another conflict because the Duchess of Sussex told Kate that she must have ‘baby brain because of her hormones’, according to Harry’s new bombshell memoirs.

William then called Meghan ‘rude’ to her face and ‘pointed a finger at her’ and explained: ‘These things are not done here’. In an excerpt, which lays bare the rift between the Sussexes and the Wales, Meghan then told William: ‘If you don’t mind, keep your finger out of my face’. 

Defending his wife, Harry writes in his new book: ‘Meg said that she had never intentionally done anything to offend Kate and that if she had, she begged her to let her know so she could avoid a reoccurrence’.

Harry laid out in extraordinary detail the meeting with William and Kate in June 2018 which was an attempt to mend the growing rift between the Sussexes and the Waleses. 

But both couples would end up sharing more gripes rather than patching things up.

Harry claims William was said Meghan was rude in a shouting match (Pictured: Harry and William arrive to hold a vigil in honour of the Queen last year)

Harry claims William was said Meghan was rude in a shouting match (Pictured: Harry and William arrive to hold a vigil in honour of the Queen last year)

The Nottingham Cottage kitchen, where Harry claims his brother grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the floor, smashing a dog bowl

The Nottingham Cottage kitchen, where Harry claims his brother grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the floor, smashing a dog bowl

He describes arriving at their Kensington Palace flat and said that Meghan’s mouth was open because of the décor, priceless art on the walls, books and furniture, saying ‘wow’ repeatedly.

Harry said that they had been thinking to themselves that their neighbouring flat had Ikea lamps and furniture ‘we had recently bought on sale with Meg’s credit card on sofa.com’.

They then sat down for a cup of tea and some biscuits where they asked after the Wales’ children, and they in turn had been asked about their honeymoon.

But after that Meghan decided to raise the question of their relationship and tensions going back to when she started dating Harry, suggesting there had been crossed wires when Kate thought Meghan wanted to use her connections in the fashion industry, when in fact she already had her own.

Meghan suggested that these problems had been magnified by the wedding preparations and the discussions over bridesmaids dresses.

Harry then claims that Kate became upset and demanded an apology from Meghan for offending her when she mentioned her hormones after giving birth and suggesting it had affected her memory. 

Meghan initially said she couldn’t remember but then added: ‘I remember: you had forgotten something and I said that it didn’t matter, that it was because of pregnancy. Because you just had a child. Because of the hormones’.

Harry said Kate then said back: ‘We are not close enough for you to talk about my hormones’.

Meghan then said she spoke to all her friends that way and then William weighed in, pointing at the duchess and saying it was rude and she was wrong to say it. Meghan then told him to stop pointing in her face.

The Duchess of Sussex is then said to have declared that she had not wanted to offend Kate. They all hugged and left, Harry said, because they thought it best to head home rather than row further.

source: dailymail.co.uk