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There are no shortage of revelations in Prince Harry’s memoir, which is due to be released on 10 January, but has already been seen after a bungle in Spain saw it put on bookshelves early.

The Duke of Sussex has used the 550-plus pages of Spare to detail fallouts with his family, the nicknames he and William use for each other – Willy and Harold – and what happened in the wake of Princess Diana’s death.

Watch Sky News special at 7pm tonight – Harry’s Book: The Fallout

Here’s a round-up of the biggest bombshells.

Duke admits to using cocaine

Prince Harry admits for the first time that he has taken cocaine, smoked weed and tried magic mushrooms.

He writes of his experiences as a teenager: “Of course I had been taking cocaine at that time. At someone’s house, during a hunting weekend, I was offered a line, and since then I had consumed some more.

“It wasn’t very fun, and it didn’t make me feel especially happy as seemed to happen to others, but it did make me feel different, and that was my main objective. To feel. To be different.”

He revealed he took magic mushrooms at a party at actress Courtney Cox’s house, washing them down with tequila.

He lost his virginity to an older woman

Harry writes about how he lost his virginity to an “older lady” who “loved horses very much”.

He describes the moment as “a humiliating episode” and says it took place “in a field”.

The excerpt reads: “I mounted her quickly, after which she spanked my ass and held me back… one of my mistakes was letting it happen in a field, just behind a busy pub.

“No doubt someone had seen us.”

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He killed 25 Taliban fighters

The Duke of Sussex spent 10 years in the Army, including two frontline tours to Afghanistan – during which he killed 25 people, he writes in Spare.

He explains that thanks to record-keeping he could “always tell exactly how many enemy combatants I had killed”.

“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.”

Princes asked Charles not to marry Camilla

Harry and William asked their father not to marry Camilla following the death of their mother.

Speaking about when his father married his second wife, Prince Harry writes: “That’s why when the question came, Willy and I promised our father that we would welcome Camilla to the family.

“The only thing we asked for in return was that he didn’t marry her.

“‘You don’t need to get married again,’ we asked him.”

King Charles was married to his first wife, Princess Diana, for 15 years before the pair separated in 1992. She was killed in a car crash in August 1997. He married Camilla in April 2005.

Britain's Prince of Wales (left) stands with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Princes William and Harry (Right) as they leave the service of celebration to mark the diamond wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey, London.

Kate made Meghan cry

In Spare, Harry elaborates on Meghan’s revelation in their Oprah interview that Kate had made her cry in the run-up to the wedding.

Harry says he came home shortly before the wedding to find Meghan on the floor crying after an argument with her future sister-in-law.

He says they had got into a disagreement over Princess Charlotte’s flower girl dress being too big – an issue Kate wanted Meghan to sort out while she was dealing with the fallout of her father announcing he would not be at the wedding.

Harry confirms what Meghan previously told Oprah, that the following day Kate came over with flowers and an apology card.

Read more:
The moment Harry visited site of Princess Diana’s fatal crash
Prince Harry cuts a sad, self-indulgent and naive figure

Now we know just how deep brothers’ rift runs

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Harry’s memoir: What you need to know

The Nazi costume

Harry puts some of the blame on William and Kate for the Nazi costume he was pictured wearing in 2005.

He says he called the couple for advice on what to wear to a party, from a shortlist of two – and they told him to go for the Nazi outfit, complete with swastika armband.

He claims they “howled” with laughter when they saw the costume and while he flew under the radar at the party, shortly after someone sold photos to the press.

Meghan not invited to Balmoral

The Queen was staying at her Scottish estate when she died last September.

Harry claims he found out his grandmother had died during the plane journey to Balmoral – a trip Charles had warned him Meghan should not go on.

Harry said his father phoned him: “He told me I was welcome at Balmoral, but… without her. He started to explain his reasons, but they didn’t make any sense at all, and it was disrespectful as well. I did not tolerate it from him.

“Don’t even think about talking about my wife like that.

“Repentant, he said, stammering, that he simply didn’t want the place to be full of people. Nobody’s wife was going to go, not even Kate, he told me, so Meg shouldn’t either.”

Harry recreated Diana’s final journey

Prince Harry says he asked a driver to replicate his mother’s final journey in Paris – travelling through the tunnel where the fatal crash took place at 105kph (65mph).

He describes being in Paris at the age of 23 and asking a driver to take him through the Pont de l’Alma tunnel at the same speed as the car carrying his mother when it crashed in August 1997.

He writes there was “no reason anyone should ever die inside the tunnel”, adding the drive was a “terrible idea”.

“I told myself I was only doing it to close that chapter, but it was not true.”

The Princess of Wales with her younger son Prince Harry during the second day of celebrations commemorating the 50th anniversary of VE day in Hyde Park, London.

Claims brother attacked him

Harry alleges the Prince of Wales grabbed his brother and ripped his necklace before knocking him to the floor.

He says “Willy” called his wife Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrupt”.

“Everything happened so fast. Really, really fast. He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor.

“I fell on top of the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces of it cutting into me. I lay on the ground for a few seconds, dazed, then got up and told him to leave.”

The incident allegedly took place at Nottingham Cottage when Harry was living there in 2019.

Push for investigation into Diana’s death

The duke called the report into his mother’s death an “insult”, saying the conclusion that the crash was due to the driver being drunk was “simplistic and absurd”.

“Even if the man had been drinking, even if he had been drunk, he wouldn’t have had any problem driving through such a short tunnel. Unless paparazzi were following him and dazzled him,” he writes.

“Why had those paparazzi got off lightly? Why weren’t they in prison? Who had sent them? And why weren’t those people in jail either? What other reason could there be apart from corruption and cover-ups being the order of the day?”

He says he and his brother agreed on those questions and planned to issue a statement asking for the investigation to be reopened.

“Those who decided dissuaded us,” he wrote.

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IT issue affects flights at Edinburgh Airport

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IT issue affects flights at Edinburgh Airport

All flights were halted at Edinburgh Airport this morning due to an IT issue affecting its air traffic control provider.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the airport later announced service had resumed.

Its post read: “Flights have now resumed following the IT issue with our air traffic provider.

“We thank passengers for their patience and understanding.”

But passengers continue to feel the effects.

A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Edinburgh was diverted to Dublin after going into a holding pattern over the Scottish capital.

And a live arrivals board on the airport’s website showed multiple flights diverted, delayed and cancelled.

Arrivals board at Edinburgh Airport. Pic: Edinburgh Airport
Image:
Arrivals board at Edinburgh Airport. Pic: Edinburgh Airport

Morven McCall and Cody Stevenson, both 19, were due to fly easyJet from Edinburgh to Amsterdam on their first trip away together.

Morven told Sky News: “We literally just got into the airport and as soon as we walked through the door there was an announcement that it had been cancelled.

“I was ill over the summer and had to cancel two holidays already, this was our first time going away together. We are just gutted and stressed.”

Follow live: Latest updates as flights halted

Arrivals at Edinburgh Airport. File pic: PA
Image:
Arrivals at Edinburgh Airport. File pic: PA

One passenger was on a plane when they found out.

They said: “We boarded our flight and pushed back on time for an 8.45 (am) departure, then sat for a while before the pilot told us what was happening.

“He updated us a couple of times, cabin crew are brilliant at handing out water etc, and I’m surprised that everyone appears to be upbeat. But then you do wonder how long for, just been told we’re hoping to be in the air in 20 minutes.”

Another passenger told us: “The first news was from the airport announcement as we were halfway through boarding, saying the airfield was closed due to air traffic control down.

“No one knew what was going on. We’d already been delayed a bit before boarding, with no reason. I suspect problems started about 9am.”

It comes after an earlier announcement that all flights had been halted.

“No flights are currently operating from Edinburgh Airport,” the previous statement said.

“Teams are working on the issue and will resolve as soon as possible.”

There was no timeframe for recovery initially, Sky News learned.

It’s understood by PA that the issue was not linked to today’s Cloudflare outage.

Edinburgh Trams also posted on X, writing: “If you’re travelling with us to @EDI_Airport this morning, please be aware that flights are not currently operating.”

The airport urged passengers to contact their airline for the latest information on flights.

An average of 43,000 passengers per day use the airport, which is served by 37 airlines flying to 155 destinations.

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Teenager fatally hit by car on motorway had been tasered by police, watchdog says

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Teenager fatally hit by car on motorway had been tasered by police, watchdog says

The police watchdog says it is investigating after a teenager who was tasered by an officer on a motorway was fatally hit by a car.

Logan Smith, 18, was being taken to hospital in an ambulance at about 11pm on Sunday when the vehicle stopped on the hard shoulder of the M5 in Somerset.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the vehicle stopped on the northbound carriageway “due to the concerns of ambulance staff”.

Mr Smith got out of the ambulance near the junction for Weston-super-Mare and “entered the live lanes of the motorway”, the watchdog added.

Police were called and an officer arrived at the scene, with bodycam footage showing the officer discharging their Taser, causing the teenager to fall to the ground.

“Soon afterwards” Mr Smith was struck by a car travelling on the southbound carriageway, the IOPC said.

The watchdog said it was investigating the “actions and decisions taken by Avon and Somerset Police prior to the death of a teenager”.

IOPC Director Derrick Campbell said: “My thoughts and sympathies are with Logan’s family and friends and everyone affected by this shocking and tragic incident. 

“We want to reassure everyone that we will independently investigate all the circumstances surrounding this incident, including the use of a Taser.

“After being notified by the force, we sent our investigators to the police post incident procedure to begin gathering evidence.

“We have taken initial accounts from the officer and ambulance staff involved.

“We met with Logan’s family on Tuesday, to give our condolences, explain our role and to provide some further detail about our investigation, including a Taser being discharged during the incident.

“We will continue to keep them updated and they request that their privacy be respected at such a difficult time.”

The coroner has been informed and formal identification and a post-mortem have taken place.

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Former doctor charged over alleged sexual assaults on 38 patients

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Former doctor charged over alleged sexual assaults on 38 patients

A former doctor has been charged over alleged sexual assaults on 38 patients in his care.

Nathaniel Spencer, 38, has been charged with 15 counts of sexual assault, 17 counts of assault by penetration, nine counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, three counts of assault a child under 13 by penetration and one count of attempted assault by penetration.

It follows a police investigation into alleged sexual offences between 2017 and 2021.

Staffordshire Police said in a statement the charges come after a complex investigation by the Public Protection Unit into sexual offences at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, in Stoke-on-Trent, and Russells Hall Hospital, in Dudley.

North Staffordshire Justice Centre
Image:
North Staffordshire Justice Centre

Ben Samples, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the West Midlands CPS Complex Casework Unit and Serious Violence, Organised Crime and Exploitation Unit, said: “We have decided to prosecute Nathaniel Spencer for a number of serious sexual offences allegedly carried out against patients while he was working as a doctor – including assault by penetration and sexual assault against a child.

“Our prosecutors have worked at length to support a detailed and complex investigation by Staffordshire Police, carefully reviewing the available evidence to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.”

Spencer, from Birmingham, will appear at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 20 January 2026.

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