Prince Harry's book: Things you might have missed
- Published
Despite extensive pre-launch leaks, the duke's book still revealed some quirky details
After days of leaks and a chaotic launch, Prince Harry's autobiography has finally arrived - telling the story of his life in and parting from the Royal Family.
It covers many controversies - Prince Harry writes that he killed 25 Taliban fighters while in the Army in Afghanistan, took psychedelic drugs, has a deeply strained relationship with his brother and begged his father not to marry Camilla.
Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace have not responded so far to the publication or its claims.
Despite the wall-to-wall coverage of recent days, here are some snippets you might have missed.
The Queen asked Meghan what she thought of the former US president
Queen quizzed Meghan about Trump
In his 410-page memoir, Harry describes the first time he introduced the Duchess of Sussex to the Queen.
On their way to meet the Duchess of York at Royal Lodge, a Windsor home shared with her ex-husband Prince Andrew, Harry learned in a phone call that the Queen was visiting.
The duchess came out to show Meghan how to curtsey and address the Queen.
"It was all very pleasant. Granny even asked Meg what she thought of Donald Trump."
He says that after about 20 minutes the Queen announced she had to leave and was escorted out by Prince Andrew.
Harry writes that Meghan did not recognise Andrew and mistook the late Queen's son for her assistant. "She definitely hadn't googled us."
Charles' 'pitiful' teddy bear
Harry mentions the teddy bear his father took to Gordonstoun, the boarding school in Scotland which Charles joined as a boy of 13.
He writes: "Teddy went everywhere with Pa. It was a pitiful object, with broken arms and dangly threads, holes patched up here and there.
"Teddy expressed eloquently, better than Pa ever could, the essential loneliness of his childhood."
To shave or not to shave? A royal conundrum
Harry asked Queen: 'Can I keep beard for my wedding?'
Harry says he had to ask his grandmother's permission to keep his beard for his wedding.
His then fiancée had never seen him without one: "I didn't want her coming down the aisle and seeing a total stranger."
Harry writes that the late Queen understood and recalled: "Her own husband liked to rock a bit of scruff now and then".
Recalling his stag do, Harry writes that Prince William had a plan to shave off the beard if he got too drunk and passed out.
The prince's book makes a droll reference to this hit US TV series
Folding his underwear and watching Friends
Writing of speculations about his glamorous bachelor life, Harry says: "Many evenings I'd think: If only they could see me now.
"Then I'd go back to folding my underwear and watching "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding."
Later in his memoir, Harry writes about staying at Courteney Cox's house.
"As a Friends fanatic, the idea of crashing at Monica's was highly appealing."
Queen wore earplugs during Brian May performance
In his autobiography, Harry reveals that the Queen wore earplugs inside Buckingham Palace when Brian May was playing outside during the Golden Jubilee celebrations.
"I watched with glee as Granny kept in time to music she couldn't hear, or music she'd found a clever and subtle way of... distancing.
"More than ever before, I wanted to give my Granny a hug."
Competitive royals tallied up engagement totals
Certain members of the Royal Family were obsessed with having the highest number of official engagements each year, according to the book.
Harry does not name any individuals but describes the daily list of royal engagements as self-reported and "rigged".
Of his experience at Christmas in 2013, Harry writes: "Certain members had become obsessed, feverishly striving to have the highest number of official engagements in the Circular each year, no matter what."
Meghan played paralegal Rachel Zane in the TV series Suits
William and Kate were 'religious' fans of Suits
Harry says when he first told Prince William and Kate about Meghan "their mouths fell open".
"I was baffled, until Willy and Kate explained that they were regular - nay, religious - viewers of Suits."
The duke recalls how his brother and sister-in-law barraged him with questions about the US TV series.
"All this time I'd thought Kate and Willy might not welcome Meg into the family, but now I had to worry about them hounding her for an autograph."
A scenic picture from Balmoral but Harry said water from the estate's taps looked 'brownish'
Loo water concerns at Balmoral
Visitors could be left a little concerned by what came out of the taps at Balmoral, the Scottish estate where the Royal Family often spends the summer.
"Brownish, suggestive of weak tea, the water often alarmed guests. Sorry, but there seems to be something wrong with the water in my loo", Harry writes.
"Pa would always smile and assure them that nothing was wrong with the water; on the contrary it was filtered and sweetened by Scottish peat."
Harry also writes about the Duke of Edinburgh's love of barbeques at Balmoral and how he was a dab hand at making spaghetti bolognese on the coals.
Meghan meets Charles and Camilla for first time
Harry writes that when he took Meghan to meet his father and Camilla he suggested she wear her hair down and little make-up.
"Pa likes it when women wear their hair down. Granny too.
"Pa didn't approve of women who wore a lot [of make-up]."
He writes that they shared tea, cakes and sandwiches - with the duke saying he ate a crumpet with Marmite.
Harry also recalls that when he moved out of Clarence House, Camilla turned his bedroom into her dressing room.
"I tried not to care. But, especially the first time I saw it, I cared."
The prince's affection for his grandmother is clear in the book
Last words with the Queen
At the end of his memoir, Harry recalls his last conversation with the Queen.
They covered many topics including her health, political turmoil at Downing Street and the biblical drought affecting the UK.
Discussing the state of the lawn at Frogmore Cottage (Harry and Meghan's then UK home) being in terrible shape, Harry recalls making the Queen laugh by saying: "Looks like the top of my head, Granny.
"Balding and brown in patches."
- Published10 January 2023
- Published7 January 2023
- Published7 January 2023
