PRINCE HARRY will have to include details of his “wild” days in his forthcoming memoir or risk it being seen as a “massive whitewash”, it is claimed.
Royal watchers and friends of Prince Charles’s youngest son have warned the book will have to live up to Harry’s declaration in order to maintain its credibility.
An unnamed friend of the Duke, who reportedly knew him and his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, told the Daily Beast: “Harry was known for being pretty wild back in the day.
“If he doesn’t go into those wild years in some detail, the book will just come over as a massive whitewash—at least to those who knew him.”
The Sun’s former royal editor Duncan Larcombe told the publication: “If he is going to keep the book largely focused on his own journey, he does need to acknowledge — and try and make sense of — those dark, boozy years for it to have any credibility.”
Royal watchers say Prince Harry’s memoir should include details from his ‘wild’ youth (Image: Getty)
Harry and Meghan at the UN Nelson Mandela Prize award ceremony in New York (Image: Getty)
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Harry was known as a keen party-goer in his youth with his holiday in Las Vegas in 2012 becoming royal legend.
The Duke has previously opened up about his “wild” days, telling the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepherd podcast last year: “At last I wasn’t running down the Strip, stripping – or more naked – at least.”
Asked about his Las Vegas trip during which he was pictured covering his private parts during a game of strip billiards, he told Channel 4 News in 2013: “It was probably a classic example of me probably being too much army and not enough prince.
“But at the end of the day, I was in a private area and there should have been a certain amount of privacy.”
Meghan and Harry attend the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral (Image: Getty)
Prince Harry talks with guests during a reception aboard museum aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (Image: Getty)
Of the memoir, another friend of Harry’s told The Times: “I think he’ll tell it honestly, framed in the context of his ‘journey’ towards ‘healing’.
“I think there will be a lot of the old broken me versus the new fixed me who dealt with the pain, and a lot about Meghan as the woman who liberated me to deal with it all.”
Harry has acknowledged his past previously, having told The Telegraph in 2017: “I, through a lot of my twenties, was a problem and I didn’t know how to deal with it.”
Prince Harry poses with cadets as he visits Westpoint Military Academy in 2010 (Image: Getty)
He hailed the importance of processing feelings by being open and honest, adding: “I know there is a huge merit in talking about your issues and the only thing about keeping it quiet is that it’s only ever going to make it worse.”
Since his partying days, the sixth in line to the throne has had two children with wife Meghan Markle and established non-profit organisation Archewell.
He delivered a speech at the United Nations last month to mark Nelson Mandela International Day, held on the former president of South Africa’s birthday.
In the UN General Assembly hall, Harry spoke of the threats from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, what he termed the reversal of constitutional rights in the US and the “weaponising” of lies and disinformation.
Nelson Mandela and Diana, Princess of Wales (Image: Getty)
He warned: “We are witnessing a global assault on democracy and freedom – the cause of Mandela’s life.”
Harry also spoke about a photo taken in 1997 in Cape Town of his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, and Mr Mandela.
The Duke said: “When I first looked at the photo, straight away, what jumped out was the joy on my mother’s face. The playfulness, cheekiness even, pure delight to be in communion with another soul, so committed to serving humanity.”
He went on to describe Africa as a lifeline, adding: “It’s where I felt closest to my mother and sought solace after she died, and where I knew I found a soulmate in my wife.”
Source: EXPRESS CO UK
