Prince William left “seething” after King Charles “planted” stories about Kate Middleton and their young children, Prince Harry reveals in new memoir Spare

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published 7 January 2023

Prince Harry has revealed and detailed Prince William's alleged ‘rage’ after King Charles reportedly "planted" stories about him, Kate Middleton, and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

In his new memoir, Spare, Prince Harry reportedly recalled how Prince William was left "seething" and "upset" after King Charles "planted" stories about his family in the press.
When he went to confront his father, King Charles allegedly "began shouting" at William and called him "paranoid."
In other royal news, Prince Harry recalls moment he told 'religious' Suits fans William and Kate about Meghan.

In his new memoir, Spare, as reported by Us Weekly, Harry has gone into detail about the royal family's sneaky tabloid tactics, sharing how even a father can allegedly go as far as using his grandchildren for good press.

In his and Meghan Markle's bombshell Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, Prince Harry touched on the fact that members of the royal family sometimes have their press offices leak negative stories about other members of the family in order to make themselves look better.

In Spare, Prince Harry further detailed the tactic and shared the impact it can have on the family relationship.

According to Harry, in 2019, he and Prince William confronted their dad King Charles III after William suspected Charles had “planted” stories about his wife, Kate Middleton, and his children, Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and Prince Louis, four, to improve his image at William's expense.

King Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry

Harry wrote that when William rang him with the news, he was “seething,” “upset,” and “talking too fast.” As reported by Us Weekly, according to Harry, William told him that, “one ‘gung-ho’ member of his father’s communication team had ‘devised and launched a new campaign of getting good press [for Charles and his wife Queen Consort Camilla] at the expense of bad press’ [for Harry and William]."

Harry claimed this was the final straw for William, who told him on the call, “They’ve done this to me for the last time,” and said that he “wasn’t going to take it anymore.”

Harry then claimed that he went with his brother to see Charles and resolve the issue but that, “Pa [Charles] instantly got upset.” Harry wrote, “He began shouting that Willy was paranoid. We both were. Just because we were getting bad press, and he was getting good, that didn’t mean his staff was behind it.”

The two then reportedly came with “proof” from reporters that Charles' team was behind the coverage but, still, Charles “dismissed” them.

Harry then claimed that William's anger was turned away from his father and onto Harry. He wrote, “In a blink he shifted all his rage onto me,” and added that William began listing his issues with Harry and his wife Meghan. He said, “He was going on and on and I lost the thread. I couldn’t understand and I stopped trying. I fell silent, waiting for him to subside.”

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Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a news writer for Goodtoknow, specialising in family content. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with BBC Good Food and The Independent.