Newspaper headlines: 'Harry spills secrets' as 'unions attack strike law'

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By Staff
BBC News
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Most of Friday's papers focus on revelations from leaked copies of Prince Harry's memoir, Spare.

The Daily Telegraph reports Harry's claims that the King refused to allow his wife, Meghan, to join him at Balmoral, as Queen Elizabeth was dying.

According to the paper, Harry also attacks the Queen Consort, saying Camilla "sacrificed" him by leaking details of a conversation with Prince William to the press, "as part of a concerted campaign" to marry the then Prince Charles "against his sons' wishes".

The i says the King referred to the Duke of Sussex as his "spare" son and made a "poor taste" joke about whether he was his biological father.

"Oh spare us" is the headline in the Daily Mail, which reports that Harry describes Prince William, as both his "beloved brother" and "arch-nemesis". It also claims he uses the memoir to paint the King as an "emotionally-stunted and ineffectual old man", who "still carries around his favourite teddy bear".

The Daily Telegraph calls them "devastating".

The Sun says they've "rocked the Royal Family" and "plunged Buckingham Palace into crisis mode", although Palace officials are yet to comment publicly on any of the claims.

A royal insider tells the Times that "it's exhausting and exasperating, but not distracting" -- insisting "it will burn itself out".

In its leader column, the Sun accuses Harry of choosing a "destructive, vengeful path" by "throwing his own family under a bus for millions of dollars". The paper adds that the duke's friends "are begging him to stop for his own good", but it fears "he's already gone too far".

The Daily Mail says that Harry, who it calls the "prince of pettiness", must end the "tawdry and upsetting accusations" if he wants to start on the "painful path" to reconciliation.

But the i says Harry's book will "shatter hopes of a truce" with William, while the Daily Express claims there is now "no chance" Harry and the Royal Family resolving their differences.

Sources tell the Daily Mirror that Harry "will never be forgiven" and "will be labelled a traitor". The paper's headline reads: "It's all over now".

Elsewhere, the Guardian reports on the government's plans to impose new anti-strike laws. The paper has seen Department of Transport documents which it says show that ministers believe the approach could backfire.

It reports the proposed laws could "push unions into taking more frequent strikes as a way to put pressure on employers", or result in workers taking other action, such as refusing to work overtime. The government says the measures are designed to protect the public.

Analysis by the Times has shown that council tax bills are more than 20% higher in the north of England than in London. The average band D bill in the capital this year is nearly £1,700 compared with more than £2,000 in the north of England, despite houses in London being nearly three times more expensive.

And according to the Sun, the world's first tractor run on manure "could be a game-changer in tackling climate change". It says the New Holland T7 is powered by liquid bio-methane captured from cow dung. During a year-long trial, it cut carbon dioxide emissions at a farm from 2,500 tonnes to 500. The headline: Plop Gear.