The Duke of Sussex has addressed rumours that Major James Hewitt is his real father. Prince Harry spoke of the claims in his new book, Spare, which is already causing a sensation after being accidentally published in Spain.
The Duke, 38, says in his memoir, as seen in Page Six and reported by Birmingham Live: "Pa [King Charles] liked telling stories, and this was one of the best in his repertoire. He’d always end with a burst of philosophising… Who knows if I’m really the Prince of Wales? Who knows if I’m even your real father?
“He’d laugh and laugh, though it was a remarkably unfunny joke, given the rumour circulating just then that my actual father was one of Mummy’s former lovers: Major James Hewitt. One cause of this rumour was Major Hewitt’s flaming ginger hair, but another cause was sadism.”
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He added: “Never mind that my mother didn’t meet Major Hewitt until long after I was born.” Harry also writes in his memoir that he killed 25 people while serving in Afghanistan.
In Spare, he writes: "Most soldiers don't know exactly how many kills they have to their credit. Under battle conditions, you often fire indiscriminately. However, in the age of Apaches and laptops, everything I did in the course of two tours of duty was recorded and time-stamped.
"I could always tell exactly how many enemy combatants I had killed. And it seemed essential for me not to be afraid of that figure. Among the many things I learned in the Armed Forces, one of the most important was to be accountable for my own actions." He continued: "So my number: twenty-five. It was not something that filled me with satisfaction, but I was not ashamed either.
"Naturally, I would have preferred not to have that figure on my military resume, or in my head, but I would also have preferred to live in a world without the Taliban, a world without war.
"However, even for a casual practitioner of wishful thinking like myself, there are realities that cannot be changed."
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