Harry denies ‘boasting’ about 25 kills and claims family ‘undermined’ his book

The Duke of Sussex has denied boasting about killing 25 Taliban while serving as a soldier, as he claimed of ‘very dangerous’ lies about his memoir.

Anger were sparked by Spare, which on Tuesday became the UK’s fastest selling non-fiction book, due to Harry writing he had engaged in ‘the taking of human lives’ while serving as a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan.

‘So, my number is 25. It’s not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me,’ he wrote.

The 38-year-old told Stephen Colbert it had been ‘hurtful and challenging’ watching the reactions following the book’s publication.

‘Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told, is that I somehow boasted about the number of people that I killed in Afghanistan,’ Harry said on The Late Show.

He noted the context in which the reference appeared in the book, before saying: “I should say, if I heard any one boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But it’s a lie.

‘And hopefully now that the book is out, people will be able to see the context.

‘My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous.’

Harry said the context surrounding his section on the war made it clear to readers he was not boasting (Picture: PA)

Admiral Lord West, former head of the Royal Navy, had previously called the duke ‘very stupid’ for giving details of his Taliban kills.

The retired admiral told the Sunday Mirror that the Invictus Games – which are due to be held in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 2023 – will have ‘serious security issues’ because of their direct connection to Harry.

The duke said he was driven to discuss his kills by the goal of reducing veteran suicides.

‘I made a choice to share it because having spent nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest and to give space to others to be able to share their experiences without any shame,’ Harry told Colbert.

‘And my whole goal, my attempt with sharing that detail, is to reduce the number of suicides.’

The interview caps off Harry’s press run for his headline-grabbing autobiography, was boosted into the record books with 400,000 hardback, e-book and audio format copies being snapped up.

Colbert asked the duke if he believed there was an ‘active campaign by the rest of your family, by the royal house… to undermine this book’, to which he replied: “Of course, mainly by the British press.’

Asked again if it was ‘aided and abetted by the palace’, Harry replied: ‘Yes, again, of course. This is the other side of the story.’

Spare includes claims that the Prince of Wales physically attacked him and teased him about his panic attacks, and that the King put his own interests above Harry’s and was jealous of the Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales.

The duke refers to his mother as mummy and said his father, now the King, did not hug him when he sat on his bed and told him Diana had died.

Harry also alleges that it was William and the Princess of Wales who encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party 2005 and ‘howled’ with laughter when they saw it.

Spare was officially released on Tuesday but leaked after copies sold early in Spain.

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The 38-year-old told Stephen Colbert it had been ‘hurtful and challenging’ watching the reactions to Spare unfold.