Prince Harry calls his estranged brother, Prince William, his “archnemesis” inhis new memoir, Save.
That detail, revealed in a preview of his Good Morning America interview, isjust one of several bombshells from the book, which comes out Tuesday. He alsoreportedly claimed that William and Kate Middleton urged him to wear the Nazicostume to a party in 2005 and that William physically attacked him in 2019 ina dispute over Meghan Markle.
In addition to upcoming interviews with Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes andTom Bradby for ITV in the UK, the British royal sat for an interview with_GMA_ ‘s Michael Strahan, which airs Monday.
“You refer to your brother as your ‘beloved brother’ and ‘archnemesis,'”Strahan asks him in a clip. “Strong words. What did you mean by that?”
“There has always been this competition between us,” replied the younger sonof King Charles and the late Princess Diana. “Weirdly. I think it really playsinto or is played by the heir-spare” relationship, which puts William in linefor the throne after Charles.
During the conversation, Harry told Strahan that he believes sharing “thetruth” is what will eventually bring peace to the fractured relationship hehas with his family.
“Ultimately, what this all comes down to is, I don’t think that we can everhave peace with my family unless the truth is out there,” said Harry, who leftEngland in 2020 and settled in Markle’s home state of California with theirtwo children.
Strahan said he read the book cover to cover and promised jaws will drop whenit is released. “He is not holding anything back,” the co-anchor teased.
This comes amid leaks of the book to the press, including several wildstories. One, published by Page Six, claims that Harry put some of the blamefor the infamous Nazi costume incident on his brother and sister-in-law.Harry, who was 20 at the time, wore the costume, that had a swastika on thearm, to a “Native and Colonial”-theme party, which William also attended.
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Harry, who publicly apologized for the offensive display at the time andrecently called it “one of the biggest mistakes of my life,” said for thefirst time that his brother and Kate helped him pick the costume. He wasbetween two: a pilot and a Nazi. William wore a homemade lion outfit.
“I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said,”Harry wrote. When he went home and tried it on for them, “They both howled.Worse than Willy’s leotard outfit! Way more ridiculous! Which, again, was thepoint.”
The outlet pointed out that royal historian Robert Lacey wrote in a 2020 book_Battle of Brothers_ that the first sign of trouble in the relationshipbetween the siblings came after the costume scandal. While William helpedHarry choose the outfit, Harry didn’t feel any support from his older siblingamid the public outrage about it. It left Harry feeling “alienated” and”resentful.”
meanwhile, The Guardian __ obtained an advanced copy of the book, publishinga story in which Harry claims William physically attacked him in NottinghamCottage, where Harry and Meghan lived as newlyweds.
Harry said William came over to discuss “the whole rolling catastrophe” oftheir relationship. Markle wasn’t present, but she was the topic with Williamreportedly calling his American sister-in-law “difficult,” “rude” and”abrasive.” Harry accused him of “parrot[ing] the press narrative” about the_suits_ actress — and that he expected better. William said he was trying tohelp Harry.
“Are you serious? Help me? Sorry – is that what you call this? Helping me?”Harry replied.
His response angered William, he claimed. He went to the kitchen of the tinycottage — and William followed. He handed his brother a glass of water inhopes of calming him down, saying, “Willy, I can’t speak to you when you’relike this.” He claimed that William set the water down and came at him.
“It all happened so fast,” Harry wrote. “So very fast. He grabbed me by thecollar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on thedog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I laythere for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
William left but came back and apologized. He then asked Harry not to tellMarkle what happened. Harry claimed he didn’t right away, calling histherapist instead. He said Markle later noticed “scrapes and bruises” on hisback, and he told her then of the fight and she was “terribly sad.”
Knowing what we know now, this reunion of Prince William and Prince Harryalong with their spouses, after the death of Queen Elizabeth, seems even moreawkward. (Photo: Chris Jackson/Pool via REUTERS)
Harry also recalled a conversation with Charles and William after the funeralof Prince Phillip in April 2021. He claimed his father stood between them,seeing “our flushed faces” amid their tension and estrangement, and told them,”Please, boys. Don’ t make my final years a misery.”
Also among the leaks, the UK tabloid The Sun obtained a Spanish version ofthe book. The outlet claims the dedication shades Charles and William as itsays, “Para Meg, Archie y Lili… y, for supuesto, mi madre” — which translatesto: “For Meg, Archie and Lili … and, of course, my mother.”
Meanwhile, new clips from Bradby’s ITV interview this Sunday with Harry havebeen released. In one, he asked the prince, “Wouldn’t your brother say to you,’Harry, how could you do this to me after everything? After everything we wentthrough?’ Wouldn’t that be what he would say?”
“He would probably say all sorts of different things,” Harry replied.
Bradby also asked, “Some people will say you’ve railed against invasions ofyour privacy all your life and the accusation will be here are you invadingthe privacy of your nearest and dearest without permission.”
Harry replied, “That would be the accusation from people that don’t understandor don’t want to believe that my family have been briefing the press,”referring to his claim that the royal family has fed false stories about himand Markle to the press.
He also said he isn’t sure he’ll attend Charle’s coronation in May — if he’seven invited.
“There’s a lot that can happen between now and then,” Harry said. “But, thedoor is always open. The ball is in their court. There’s a lot to be discussedand I really hope that they’re willing to sit down and talk about it.”