Prince Harry Says William Was “Seething” After King Charles’s Team Planted Stories About Kate and Kids

Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan undoubtedly became the royal targets of bad press following their marriage, but they weren’t the only ones to fall victim to the “dirty game” that is the royals’ competing press houses.

In his new memoir, Spare, the Duke of Sussex reveals that at one point, his father King Charles III’s communications team planted negative stories about Princess Catherine and her children and Will, in an attempt to get good press for him and Camilla.

According to an excerpt obtained by Us Weekly, Harry writes that his conversation with William began with the future king being too “annoyed” and “talking too fast.”

“Falling,” William reportedly told Harry, “they’ve done this to me for the last time,” referring to their father’s communications department targeting them. He added that he “couldn’t take it anymore”.

Noting that the same thing had been done to him and his wife, Meghan, Harry agreed to confront Charles with William.

“He immediately got upset. He started yelling that Willy was paranoid. We both were,” Harry writes. “Just because we were getting bad press, and he was doing well, that doesn’t mean his staff was behind it.”

Harry says he and William had “evidence” from reporters that Charles’ team was behind the negative coverage, but their father still dismissed it.

Although not much came of the chat with the king, Harry shared that it still felt like a momentary victory for his relationship with William as they were once again acting as a team. But the Prince of Wales didn’t feel the same way, says Harry.

“With the first step he turned all his anger on me,” he writes.

In his Netflix series Harry & Meghan, Harry says he and his brother promised each other they would never act like their father and turn each other’s press houses against each other, but William did not end up keeping that promise.

“I’d rather be destroyed in the press than play along with this game or this trading business. And see my brother’s office copy the same thing we both promised we’d never do,” says Harry at the doctor, “that was heartbreaking.”

The pre-order will be released on January 10th. Get your copy here.

Rosa Sanchez is a senior news editor at Harper’s Bazaar, working on entertainment, fashion and culture news. Previously, she was a news editor at ABC News and, before that, a managing editor of celebrity news at American Media. She has also written pieces for Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, Forbes, and The Hollywood Reporter, among other outlets.