Prince Harry's bombshell claims questioned: 'It doesn't add up'

Prince Harry's bombshell claims about his life within the Royal Family were dismissed by a former royal adviser, who claimed his own memories are "very different." The Duke of Sussex's explosive memoir, Spare, was released in January 2023, sending shockwaves around the world.

In Spare, Harry makes a series of claims about members of the Royal Family and provides a fresh account of life within Palace walls. The estranged Duke writes about his relationship with his father, the King, his brother, Prince William, and other members of the Firm, touching down on various major moments in his life, including the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997.

Now, Grant Harrold, who worked for the King for seven years when he was still the Prince of Wales, has spoken about his reaction to Harry's book after his own memoir, The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service, was released in August.

He told Fox News: "I've openly talked about this because... his memories and mine are very different. You think we [were] in two different households because I talked about this happy family... with his stepmother and everything. He's saying he didn't. I never witnessed that."

Mr Harrold added: "I saw some magazine [clippings] the other day ... from the king's wedding" .

"When you look at these pictures of Harry around his stepmother, both leaving Windsor and chasing after the cars, that's not somebody who's unhappy. If he was really that unhappy, I know people who wouldn't even go to weddings or wouldn't even get involved because they're unhappy.

"And I was there the night before. There was a dinner for [Prince] William, Harry and the King. It was a lovely occasion. There were no issues. And I think [if people check press clippings and TV footage from that time] it'll be quite obvious that something, as I keep saying, doesn't add up."

The Duke of Sussex stepped down as a senior working royal in 2020, alongside his wife, Meghan Markle.

The former royal butler questioned the Duke's alleged unhappiness during his time as a working royal but stressed that he could have indeed felt like that without showing it.

He said: "With mental health, you sometimes have no idea someone is unhappy about anything.

"I know is there was no evidence of him being unhappy at all or suffering from any kind of mental health issues. But it's a silent thing, so it's possible. But nobody knew. My memories are definitely very different from his.

"It's almost as if it were a different household, but it wasn't. That was his household, it was his home. And it's where I spent a lot of time as well. It's interesting because the [late] Queen said, 'recollections may vary'."