Prince Harry Nazi uniform: did Prince William help him choose controversial costume for fancy dress party?

Prince Harry has claimed in his upcoming memoir, Spare, that it was his brother, Prince William who encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform to a “native and colonial” party in 2005.

The incident, which he has since described as one of the “biggest mistakes” of his life happened when the Prince was 20-years-old, with pictures of him in the costume making front page news. At the time he issued an apology saying: “I am very sorry if I have caused any offence or embarrassment to anyone. It was a poor choice of costume and I apologise.”

According to extracts obtained by Page Six, Prince Harry has revealed that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had “howled with laughter” and encouraged him to wear the Nazi uniform.

It has also been reported by the Guardian that additional extracts claim Prince William attacked Prince Harry after calling his wife Meghan Markle “abrasive,” “difficult,” and “rude.”

So, what has Prince Harry said in his memoir Spare? Here’s everything you need to know.

What has Prince Harry said about the Nazi uniform in his book?

Reported by Page Six, in extracts obtained from his new memoir, Spare, Prince Harry reveals that Prince William, and the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton had “howled with laughter” and enouraged him to wear the Nazi costume in 2005.

Harry writes that he was either going to wear a pilot uniform or a Nazi uniform and phoned his brother to make a decision.

The extract provided to Page Six says: “I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said,” adding that when he tried it on for them. “They both howled. Worse than Willy’s leotard outfit! Way more ridiculous! Which, again, was the point.”

Prince William has been accused of helping Harry choose the costume before. Royal Historian Robert Lacey previously addressed the claims in his 2020 book, “Battle of Brothers.”

He wrote: “Harry chose his costume in conjunction with his elder brother — the future King William V, then 22, who had laughed all the way back to Highgrove (Charles’ country home) with the younger sibling he was supposed to be mentoring — and then onwards to the party together.”

Did Prince Harry apologise?

Prince Harry issued an apology in 2005 saying: “I am very sorry if I have caused any offence or embarrassment to anyone. It was a poor choice of costume and I apologise.”

He also addressed the incident in an episode of Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary, describing the decision to wear the costume as “one of the biggest mistakes of my life”. Adding: “I felt so ashamed afterwards. All I wanted to do was make it right. I could’ve just ignored it and probably made the same mistakes over and over again in my life. But I learned from that.”

What else has Harry said about Prince William?

Prince Harry has also claimed that Prince William had attacked him, after calling Markle “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”.

Reported by the Guardian, the leaked extract from his memoir says: “(William) called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor.

“I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”

When is Spare released?

Prince Harry’s new memoir, called Spare, will be released on Tuesday 10 January. The book was described as a “moving personal journey from trauma to healing” in a press release by Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle. The title of the book reflects on the Royal tradition that the first son is the heir, with the second being the spare.