Publications
- Prince Harry speaks of an interview in Spare he and brother, Prince William, gave reporters while they were carrying out their pilot training.
- The interview has since resurfaced, giving some credence to Harry's account of his complicated relationship with his brother.
- Harry refers to William, or rather, "Willy", as his "beloved brother and archnemesis" in the bombshell memoir.
Prince Harry refers to Prince William as his "beloved brother and archnemesis" in his memoir, laying bare the long-talked-about sibling rivalry between the two.
In Spare, he speaks of when the two lived together in Shropshire while training to be pilots at RAF Shawbury in 2009 – and a resurfaced interview, mentioned in the tell-all, gives credence to Harry's account.
Harry doubles down on claims William, or rather, "Willy", felt trapped and was jealous of the freedom afforded to Harry, the far less important, Spare.
William's account
The interview begins with the brothers responding to the question: "How much inter-service rivalry is there between you two?"
"None at all," Harry says, to which William agrees.
"Everyone knows the Army is a part of the RAF, so —" Harry continues, before William interjects: "I'm an old Household Calvary boy anyway, so it's fine."
On living together, William responds: "Well, bear in mind, I cook for him and feed him basically every day. I think he's done rather well."
He adds after the reporter says he'd heard Harry does the dishes: "He does do a bit of the washing up, then he leaves most of it in the sink, and then it comes back in the morning, and I have to wash it up."
"Oh, the lies," Harry says, a smile on his face.
"You find yourself tidying up after him?" a reporter asks. "Yeah, a bit of tidying. He snores a lot as well. It keeps me up all night long," says William.
Harry makes a few jokes, and they get to discussing William's upcoming birthday – and presents!
"Basically, he's probably only literally just realised that you said that now and hasn't got me a present, but I wouldn't expect anything else anyways. I'll be lucky to get a card," William comments.
They'd go on to discuss piloting. "It's quite a long way to go before I'm finished, but I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead and flying. To me, I didn't join the forces to be molly-coddled or treated any different," William says.
And then a piercing remark: "And as far as I'm concerned, in my eyes, if Harry can do it, then I can do it."
Harry's account
"I cleaned up after myself, and I didn't snore. Besides, our rooms were separated by thick walls, so even if I did snore, there was no way he heard," Harry says in Spare, detailing his account of that, in hindsight, all-too-awkward interview.
"The reporters were having fits of giggles about it all, but I cut in: Lies! Lies! That only made them laugh harder. Willy too."
Harry recalls: "I laughed as well because we often bantered like that, but when I look back on it now, I can't help but wonder if there wasn't something else at play. I was training to get to the front lines, the same place Willy had been training to get, but the Palace had scuttled his plans.
"The spare, sure, let him run around a battlefield like a chicken with his head cut off if that's what he likes. But the heir? No."
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