Charles biographer says Harry’s claims are those of a ‘B-list celebrity’

The Duke of Sussex’s revelations in his new book are the kind that would normally “come from B-list celebrities,” said a friend of the royal.

Broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby said he was “perplexed” by Harry’s decision to publish a book.

Accidentally released early in Spain, the memoir Spare contains personal details about his love life, drug use and the rifts within his family.

Mr Dimbleby, whose 1994 biography of Charles revealed details of his infidelity, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program he imagined the king was “extremely distressed” by the book’s contents.

He said: “By the way, I’m concerned that everyone is using the word ‘revelations’.

“Yes, there are obviously revelations about how he lost his virginity, did drugs and how many people he thinks he may have shot down from his Apache in Afghanistan, but that’s partly the kind of revelations you’d expect, I suppose of some sort of B-list celebrity.

“Much more significant are not what you would call revelations, but accusations – lamentations, the anger and pain of what he says.

“His claim that this is his site because there has only been one site so far. It seems to me I haven’t heard the other side at all because the other side is always silent.’

Mr Dimbleby also said he would be “very surprised” if Harry wasn’t invited to the coronation as it would “just fan the flames”.

Buckingham Palace has not officially commented on the book.

Spare is the latest in a string of public statements by the prince and his wife Meghan since they left royal life and moved to California in 2020.

It is scheduled to be released worldwide on Tuesday.

In other extracts obtained by the Guardian newspaper, the Duke claims he was physically attacked and knocked to the ground by his brother during a heated argument over the Duchess of Sussex.

Harry also claims that it was William and the Princess of Wales who encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform to a 2005 costume party and “howled” with laughter when they saw it.

Harry refers to his mother as Mama and said his father, now the King, did not hug him as he sat on his bed and told him Diana had died.

The Duke also claimed that a woman with “powers” delivered him a message from his mother stating that he was “living the life she couldn’t”.

In clips from an interview promoting his book with Good Morning America, Harry said Diana was “sad” at her sons’ broken relationship.

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