The war between the Windsors hits a new low

It was inevitable, with a book as highly anticipated as Prince Harry’s memoir Spare, that there would be a leak of its contents ahead of its release next week. Given the Duke of Sussex’s antipathy towards his family, it is fitting that the newspaper that landed this exclusive is the republican-leaning Guardian. Nonetheless, it is something of a marmalade-dropper to see the headline ‘Prince Harry details physical attack by brother William in new book.’

We might have thought we have heard all the details of the acrimonious relationship between the two royal siblings before: clearly, there is still more to come.

The accusation is an unedifying one. Harry describes how, in 2019, William visited his younger brother – who we learn he refers to as ‘Harold’ – at his grace-and-favour home Nottingham Cottage (‘Nott Cott’) and the two had a row, largely over Meghan.

In the book, ghostwritten by the American author JD Moehringer, William is said to have referred to Meghan as ‘difficult’, ‘rude’ and ‘abrasive’, before the argument became progressively more heated.