Topping the bestseller lists and creating headlines around the world, Prince Harry’s memoir Spare is the book everyone is talking about.
From claims his brother Prince William physically attacked him to losing his virginity to an older woman in a field behind a pub, the revelations have not stopped coming.
For those celeb-spotters out there, there’s another reason to get stuck into the 410-page book – it’s packed with stars. Here are some of Prince Harry‘s biggest name drops, and what he got up to with them.
The Spice Girls
Prince Harry remembers being “thrilled and baffled” by the news he would be hanging out with Nelson Mandela and the Spice Girls while accompanying his father on a trip to South Africa in 1997.
The Spice Girls had a big concert in Johannesburg and were calling in on President Mandela to pay their respects.
Harry says his father – who he calls Pa – had engineered the meeting for some good PR.
“The truth was, Pa’s staff hoped a photo of him standing alongside the world’s most revered political leader and the world’s most popular female musical act would earn him some positive headlines, which he sorely needed. Since Mummy’s disappearance he’s been savaged.”
Calling it “a work trip”, Harry goes on: “The Spice Girls concert represented my first public appearance since the funeral and I knew, through intuition, through bits of overheard conversations, that the public’s curiosity about my welfare was running high.
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“I remember stepping on to the red carpet, screwing a smile on my face, suddenly wishing I was in my bed at St James’ Palace. Beside me was Baby Spice, wearing white plastic shoes with chunky twelve-inch platform heels.
“I fixated on those heels while she fixated on my cheeks. She kept pinching them. So chubby! So cute! Then Posh Spice surged forward and clutched my hand.
“Further down the line I spied Ginger Spice, the only Spice with whom I felt a real connection – a fellow ginger.”
Recalling a visit to the US with a pal in January 2016, Harry ends up at a party at Courteney Cox’s mansion.
“She was a friend of Thomas’ girlfriend, and had more room,” he says. “Also, she was travelling, on a job and didn’t mind if we crashed at her place.
“No complaints from me. As a Friends fanatic, the idea of crashing at Monica’s was highly appealing. And amusing. But then… Courtney turned up.
“I was very confused. Was her job cancelled? I didn’t think it was my place to ask. More: Does this mean we have to leave?
“She smiled. Of course not, Harry. Plenty of room.”
Harry goes on to admit he had quite the crush on Cox: “She was Monica. And I was a Chandler. I wondered if I’d ever work up the courage to tell her. Was there enough tequila in California to get me that brave?”
The party hots up, Harry meets “Batman from the LEGO movie” – Will Arnett we presume – and with his help Harry moves on from tequila to something a little more trippy.
“He led my mate and me to the fridge, from which he extracted a soft drink. While the door was open, we spotted a huge box of black diamond magic mushroom chocolates.
“Someone behind said they were for everybody. Help yourself boys. My mate and I grabbed several, gobbled them, washed them down with tequila.
“We waited for Batman to indulge as well. But he didn’t. Not his thing or something. Howdya like that, we said. This bloke’s just sent us by ourselves into the f***ing Batcave.”
Rihanna
One of the best-selling female music artists of all time, Rihanna agreed to hook up with Harry in Barbados to encourage people to get tested for HIV.
Pretty exciting right? Well, turns out Harry was a bit distracted by his girlfriend at the time, Meghan Markle.
Here’s what he had to say: “The occasion was the upcoming World AIDS day and I’d asked Rihanna, at the last minute, to join me, help raise awareness across the Caribbean. To my shock, she’d said yes.
“November 2016. Important day, vital cause, but my head wasn’t in the game. I was worried about Meg. She couldn’t go home because her house was surrounded by paps…
“I turned to Rihanna and we chatted while I awaited the result. Negative. Now I just wanted to run, find somewhere with Wi-Fi, check on Meg.”
Hopefully he stuck around for long enough to thank Rihanna for coming along…
Calling her “funny, sweet and cool”, he says he met her a few months after splitting up with the socialite Chelsy Davy.
Despite Flack being a pretty famous presenter at the time, Harry says he didn’t know who she was as “I don’t watch much TV” and struggled a bit to remember her name.
Luckily, she didn’t take offence and they met a few days later for dinner and poker. Further dates ensued, but after being photographed together Harry says: “Those photos set off a frenzy.
“Within hours a mob was camped outside Flack’s parents’ house, and all her friends’ houses, and her grandmother’s house.
“She was described in one paper as ‘my bit of rough’ – because she’d once worked in a factory or something. Jesus, I thought, are we really such a country of insufferable snobs?”
He says they continued to see each other “on and off, but we didn’t feel free any more”. He goes on: “The relationship was tainted, irredeemably, and in time we agreed that it just wasn’t worth the grief and harassment. Especially for her family.”
Flack also mentioned the relationship in her 2014 autobiography, Storm In A C Cup.
The Love Island presenter took her own life aged 40 in February 2020. Later in the book, Harry mentions her death, writing: “Caroline Flack, a very good friend of mine, had taken her own life. By the looks of things, she couldn’t bear it anymore.
“The years of constant harassment by the press had killed her. I felt awful for her family. I can’t forget how much she suffered for her fatal sin of going out with me.”
Harry’s mention of his former flame has not gone down well in all quarters. Flack’s former agent has hit out at him for repeating “long forgotten slurs” and called for him to be stripped of his titles.
Supermodels
Lots of teenage boys spend time looking at models. But not many get to meet them in the flesh.
While you might expect it to be the moment of many boys’ dreams, Harry says it was actually “very confusing”.
Thanks to the help of a therapist, who helped him recall previously forgotten memories, he says he remembered meeting the biggest supermodels of the 90s with his brother when he was a teenager.
He writes: “I remembered Willy and me joining her for a chat with Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer and Cindy Crawford.
“Very confusing. Especially for two shy boys, at or about the age of puberty.”
Among the most photographed models of the time, Turlington, Schiffer and Crawford frequently featured on magazine covers, runways and in fashion campaigns throughout Harry’s teenage years.
Sir Elton John
They first met when Sir Elton Johnrewrote Candle In The Wind for his mother’s funeral, but Harry has since become firm friends with the Rocketman hitmaker.
But they’ve had their disagreements too.
In his memoir, Harry says he was less than happy when he discovered Sir Elton would be publishing his own no-holds barred memoir in instalments in the Daily Mail.
Harry says he questioned why he had chosen the newspaper he claimed had made Sir Elton’s life “miserable”.
He says Sir Elton said he “wanted people to read it”, adding: “Where better than the very newspaper that has been so poisonous to me my whole life?”
Saying he was sweating as they chatted, Harry goes on: “I reminded him of the specific lies the Mail had famously printed about him. Hell – he’d sued them, just over a decade earlier, after they claimed he forbade people at a charity event from speaking to him.
“They’d ultimately written him a cheque for a hundred thousand pounds. I reminded him that he’d stirringly said in one interview: They can say that I’m a fat old c***. They can say that I’m an untalented b******. They can call me a p***. But they mustn’t lie about me.”
Harry says he did not want to “push” the matter, adding: “I loved him. I’ll always love him. And I also didn’t want to spoil the holiday.”
Later, Harry says it was Sir Elton and his husband David Furnish who inspired him to sue press outlets directly if he believed they had used illegal means to access information about him, rather than trying to persuade the palace to fight on his behalf.
He says they told him about “an acquaintance of theirs who was a lawyer, a charming chap who knew the wiretapping scandal better than anyone”.
Both Harry and Sir Elton are among a group of celebrities suing the Daily Mail publisher over alleged bugging, impersonation and accessing bank accounts. Associated Newspapers denies the claims.
And two celebs Harry hasn’t met
Despite tabloid stories saying otherwise, Harry insists he’s never had a thing with Cameron Diaz.
Recalling press interest in his failure to marry by his late 20s, he writes: “They dredged up every relationship I’d ever had, every girl I’d ever been seen with, put it all into a blender, hired ‘experts’, aka quacks, to try to make sense of it.
“Books about me dived into my love life, homed in on each romantic failure and near miss.
“I seem to recall one detailing my flirtation with Cameron Diaz. ‘Harry just couldn’t see himself with her, the author reported’.
“Indeed, I couldn’t, since we’d never met. I was never within 50 metres of Ms Diaz, further proof that if you like reading pure b******s then royal biographies are just your thing.”
He also says he never met Christina Aguilera, despite briefly thinking he did.
At another house party, with “more tequila… and more mushrooms”, Harry says: “We all started playing some kind of game, some kind of charades – I think?
“Someone handed me a joint. Lovely. I took a hit, looked at the rinsed creamy blue of the California sky. Someone tapped me on the shoulder, said they wanted me to meet Christina Aguilera. Oh, hello, Christina.
“She looked rather mannish. No, apparently, I’d misheard, it wasn’t Christina, it was the guy who co-wrote one of her songs. Genie in a Bottle. Did I know the lyrics? Did he tell me the lyrics?
“Anyway, he’d made a boatload from those lyrics, and now lived in high style. Good for you, mate.”
Harry then heads back to Courteney Cox’s beachfront house, just another chapter in his royal life.
Paris Hilton says her “heart has shattered into a million pieces,” after visiting the charred remains of her Malibu beach house which has been destroyed in wildfires sweeping LA.
Describing herself on Instagram as “in complete shock,” the hotel heiress said seeing her family memories “reduced to ashes” was “devastating”.
Meanwhile, Mel Gibson has said the loss of his family home and all his belongings in the fire was “emotional”. It burned down while he was recording the Joe Rogan Experience in Texas.
At least 10 people have been killed in the blazes, which have been burning for four days, forcing 179,000 to evacuate their homes. Tens of thousands of acres of land still burning.
The fires affected multiple celebrities, as the fires have ripped through exclusive suburbs in southern California, home to film stars and billionaires.
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Celebrities’ homes have burned down in the LA fires
Hilton, 43, said she watched her home burn to the ground on TV – and shared a video on social media from inside her gutted home.
She said she was grateful to be safe along with her husband Carter Reum and their two children, Phoenix and London, but was devastated to have lost her family home.
She wrote on Instagram: “I’m standing here in what used to be our home, and the heartbreak is truly indescribable.
“When I first saw the news, I was in complete shock – I couldn’t process it. But now, standing here and seeing it with my own eyes, it feels like my heart has shattered into a million pieces.”
She has lived in the multi-million-pound property for three years.
Hilton added: “This house wasn’t just a place to live – it was where we dreamed, laughed, and created the most beautiful memories as a family.
“It was where [son] Phoenix’s little hands made art that I’ll cherish forever, where love and life filled every corner. To see it reduced to ashes… it’s devastating beyond words.
“What breaks my heart even more is knowing that this isn’t just my story. So many people have lost everything. It’s not just walls and roofs – it’s the memories that made those houses homes. It’s the photos, the keepsakes, the irreplaceable pieces of our lives.”
She described herself as “incredibly lucky,” adding: “My loved ones, my babies, and my pets are safe. That’s the most important thing”.
She thanked the firefighters, first responders and volunteers who she said were “all risking their lives” to help, adding “Even in the ashes, there is still beauty in this world”.
‘When I got home, it wasn’t there’
Braveheart star Mel Gibson, who was away when the fires began, told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas Reports that the home he had lived in for over a decade had burned while he was appearing on an episode of the Joe Rogan podcast.
The 69-year-old actor said it was “emotional” to know all his belongings have been lost, but he was doing his best to stay positive.
He said he felt “relieved from the burden of my stuff, because it’s all in cinders”.
Gibson, who lived in his Hollywood home with his partner Rosalind Ross and their seven-year-old son Lars, described finding out about the loss of his house.
“I was doing the Rogan podcast… And [I was] kind of ill at ease while we were talking, because I knew my neighbourhood was on fire, so I thought, I wonder if my place is still there.
“But when I got home, sure enough, it wasn’t there. I went home and I said to myself, well, at least I haven’t got any of those pesky plumbing problems anymore.”
He said the family’s pet chickens had survived the blaze, and while many “personal things from over the years” had been lost, the important things were still there.
“These are only things. And the good news is that those in my family and those I love are all well, and we’re all happy and healthy and out of harm’s way, that’s all I can care about, really.”
The ancestral home of Big Lebowski actor Jeff Bridges is also understood to have been destroyed.
The four-bedroom home, which had been in the Bridges family for generations, had been inherited by Bridges and his two siblings in 2018 according to the Los Angeles Times.
Tina Knowles, the mother of singer Beyonce, has also lost a house she owned in Malibu to the fires.
She shared a short video of dolphins playing in the sea on Instagram, writing: “This is what I was looking at on my birthday this past weekend from my tiny little bungalow on the water in Malibu! It was my favorite place, my sanctuary, my sacred Happy Place. Now it is gone!!”
She went on to thank the fire department and first responders and offered condolences to others affected by the fires.
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Take That star Mark Owen and his family were evacuated from their home, with his wife Emma Ferguson describing them waking to “helicopters, thick black smoke and winds howling”.
She said while she was grateful her family was safe, it was “exhausting” to be “constantly looking online to see if your house is gone.”
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Steve Guttenberg: ‘I’ve seen such tragedy’
Actor Steve Guttenberg, best known for his role in the Police Academy film franchise, has called the fires “absolutely the worst” he’s ever seen, and has been doing what he can to help distressed residents.
Other stars to have lost their homes in the fires include Billy Crystal, Miles Teller, Diane Waren, Ricki Lake, Cary Elwes, Milo Ventimiglia, Anna Faris, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag.
On Friday, the Recording Academy, which runs the Grammy Awards, and charity MusiCares have pledged $1m (£813,000) to support music artists impacted by the fires.
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis has pledged the same amount to fire relief efforts from her family foundation.
Alec Baldwin has filed a lawsuit against prosecutors who pursued a criminal charge against him after the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.
The Hollywood actor, who was the lead actor and co-producer of the Western film, was pointing a gun at Ms Hutchins when it fired in October 2021.
The cinematographer was killed and director Joel Souza was wounded.
Baldwin, 66, was accused of involuntary manslaughter but his trial was upended in July when a judge threw the case out based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of ammunition evidence from the defence.
He has now filed a lawsuit for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations against those involved in pursuing the charge.
The lawsuit alleges that prosecutors intentionally concealed evidence that would absolve Baldwin from blame and “sought at every turn to scapegoat” him to “maliciously bring about or advance” the actor’s trial and conviction.
It claims the defendants, which include special prosecutor Kari Morrissey and Santa Fe district attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, were “blinded by their desire to convict Baldwin for all the wrong reasons”.
In a statement, Ms Morrissey said: “In October 2023 the prosecution team became aware that Mr Baldwin intended to file a retaliatory civil lawsuit.
“We look forward to our day in court.”
Representatives for Ms Carmack-Altwies have been contacted for comment.
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From July 2024: Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey accused of calling Baldwin a ‘c*********’
Baldwin’s lawsuit has been filed less than a month after Ms Morrissey withdrew an appeal over the court’s decision to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor.
After the lawsuit was filed, Baldwin’s lawyers Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in a joint statement: “Criminal prosecutions are supposed to be about the search for truth and justice, not to pursue personal or political gain or harass the innocent.
“Kari Morrissey and the other defendants violated that basic principle, over and over, and trampled on Alec Baldwin’s rights.
“We bring this action to hold the defendants accountable for their misconduct and to prevent them from doing this to anyone else.”
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From November 2024: Tributes paid to Halyna Hutchins at Rust premiere
Baldwin had always denied the charge of involuntary manslaughter, maintaining he did not pull the gun’s trigger and that others on the set in New Mexico were responsible for safety checks on the weapon.
If he had been convicted, he could have faced up to 18 months in prison.
According to the prosecution, the actor had behaved recklessly during a scene rehearsal on the set near Santa Fe, playing “make believe with a real gun” and violating “the cardinal rules of firearm safety”.
Baldwin’s defence team argued this was not true – saying he was “an actor, acting” and “committed no crime”.
Following repeated suggestions from defence lawyer Alex Spiro that evidence had been concealed, in an unusual move, Ms Morrissey called herself to the witness stand during the trial, despite the judge telling her she was not required to do so.
Mr Spiro told the court that she had referred to the actor as a “c*********” and an “arrogant p****” to witnesses. Ms Morrissey said she did not recall this.
Hollywood celebrities are among thousands of people to have been evacuated from their homes as fires rip through areas of Los Angeles.
Sky News’ US correspondent Martha Kelner reported that Tom Hanks, Ben Affleck and Reese Witherspoon were all evacuated on Tuesday as wildfires continued to spread in the Pacific Palisades suburb of LA.
The area, which is home to billionaires as well as Hollywood A-listers, is located between Santa Monica and Malibu.
Other celebrities who have fled their homes include the award-winning actor James Woods, who said last night he had been safely evacuated from his home in Pacific Palisades.
But he added in a post on X: “I do not know at this moment if our home is still standing.”
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Actor Mark Hamill, best known for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films, also posted on social media last night saying he evacuated his home in Malibu and his family were “fleeing for our lives”.
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This Is Us actress Mandy Moore was also forced to leave her home due to the fires.
She said in two Instagram stories she had fled the Eaton fire, which is raging near Altadena, with her children, cats and dog. They have found temporary refuge with friends.
The actress said: “Trying to shield the kids from the immense sadness and worry I feel.
“Praying for everyone in our beautiful city. So gutted for the destruction and loss. Don’t know if our place made it.”
According to Velvet Ropes, which maps celebrity properties, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Matt Damon, Steven Spielberg, Hilary Swank and Sally Field all have homes close to where fires are raging.
Dr Dre, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, Tyra Banks, Martin Short, Anna Faris, Milo Ventimiglia, Linda Cardellini, Mary McDonnell, Adam Sandler, Miles Teller, and Jennifer Love Hewitt are also said to have houses in affected areas.
In neighbouring Malibu, which was also affected by fires in December, stars including Beyonce and Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga and Billie Eilish are said to be among the celebrity residents.
The Palisades blaze has already burnt through more than 11,000 acres of land while the Eaton one has caused the death of two people, Los Angeles County fire chief Anthony Marrone said on Wednesday.
The two other fires are known as Woodley and Hurst, after the main areas affected.
All four blazes are still growing, Mr Marrone said.