Prince Harry has claimed that the Prince of Wales canceled plans made to spend the night together ahead of his 2018 wedding – leaving him feeling low.
The Duke of Sussex, 38, claimed in his explosive memoirs Spare, officially published on Tuesday, that Prince William, 40, was meant to spend the night with him and friends at the Coworth Park Hotel on the eve of his wedding to Meghan Markle on 19 May 2018.
But he claims now that his older brother canceled at the last minute, citing that he needed to stay with the Princess of Wales and their children instead. After Harry tried to persuade him further, he eventually agreed to come and have dinner with him, but still refused to stay the night, the memoir recounts.
Harry also wrote that William was originally reluctant to take part in a public walkabout ahead of the wedding, although he eventually obliged and the pair met with members of the public by King Edward Gate in Windsor.
The Duke of Sussex, 38, claimed in his explosive memoirs Spare, published officially on Tuesday, that Prince William, 40, was meant to spend the night with him and friends at the Coworth Park Hotel on the eve of his wedding to Meghan Markle on 19 May 2018.
The Duke of Sussex said that the alleged Prince of Wales’ cancellation was among a series of factors that made him feel ‘low’ in the days leading to his wedding day.
He said he was feeling particularly gloomy on the eve of his wedding, in part due to the row that is alleged to have happened between Kate and Meghan about bridesmaids’ dresses.
The royal added that the friends who were with him at the luxury hotel asked ‘where Prince William was’.
He claimed the brothers had planned to spend the night together and to go on a public walkabout, just like they had done for William’s wedding to the Princess of Wales in 2011.
The Duke of Sussex said he wondered what had made his brother change his mind, and whether it was the row over the dresses or the fact he was going to get married while sporting a beard, which had been another point of tension in the run-up to the wedding.
He also said he wondered whether William was unhappy that he had made his childhood best friend, Charlie van Straubenzee, his best man over his brother.
He also added that his brother had been reluctant to take part in a walkabout, allegedly telling him: ‘you don’t have to do everything [the press office] tells you to.’
Harry claimed he realized at the time that he had been mistaken to believe that the bond he shared with his brother would survive any type of row.
However, he noted in the book that William eventually changed his mind after a meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth and agreed to go on a walkabout outside of King Edward Gate.
During their outing, Harry claimed he invited his brother to spend the evening with him again, and that William agreed to come to dinner, but said he would have to go back home to Kate and the children.
At this point, the Duke claims, he realized he was mistaken to think that his bond with his brother was more important than any rows.
