Prince Harry wanted to cancel the publication of his tell-all book after visiting the UK for the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, it has been claimed.
The Duke of Sussex, who now lives in the US with Meghan Markle, reportedly had doubts about his memoir following the trip to Britain to celebrate Elizabeth II’s historic 70 years on the throne last June.
A US publishing source claimed the team working on Spare at Penguin Random House were told Harry had “pulled it” and “doesn’t want to do it”.
The source told The Times: “The book was all ready to go but visiting his grandmother he had second thoughts.
“That was such a dark day. Everyone had been working so hard on this project in utmost secrecy — and with the expectation, this would turn out to be one of the biggest and most historic books we would ever get to publish.”
The source added that there was speculation that Harry had been given an ultimatum by the royals. They said: “The rumour was that during the visit it was made clear to him that if he published while the Queen was still alive there would be no way back. Obviously that all changed with the monarch’s death in September.”
Harry’s tome, ghostwritten by JR Moehringer and said to be part of a four-book deal, is being released four months after the death of his grandmother.
It follows years of turmoil for the Royal Family amid the Megxit crisis which saw the Sussexes quit royal duties and move to California in 2020.
While the autobiography is not due for release until Tuesday, it went on sale early in some Spanish bookshops resulting in a flurry of bombshell revelations.
Among the most explosive claims is Harry’s alleging that his brother the Prince of Wales physically attacked him at Nottingham Cottage in 2019 in a row over his marriage to Meghan.
The Duke also claims his father Charles begged him and William to stop fighting during a meeting after Prince Philip’s funeral, saying to his warring sons: “Please, boys. Don’t make my final years a misery.”
And he claims Meghan upset Kate, who had recently given birth, by telling her that she must have “baby brain” during an exchange in the run-up to the Sussexes’ royal wedding in 2018.
