05 January 2023 , 15:09
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Prince Harry has broken his silence on longstanding rumours about his parenthood in a bombshell new book.
The Duke of Sussex's mum Princess Diana confirmed before her death that she'd had a five-year affair with Major James Hewitt during the 1980s.
And there has always been some hearsay that she had a child with him.
Writing in his memoir Spare - which is released next week - Harry makes reference to the rumours and how the now-King Charles had often made light of guessing who his real father was.
The Duke writes: "The joke was damn funny in light of the rumour going around at the time that my real father was one of my mother's ex-lovers: Major James Hewitt.
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Princess Diana with sons William and Harry (Getty Images)"One cause of the rumour was Major Hewitt's red hair, but another was sadism.
"Tabloid readers loved the idea that Prince Charles's youngest son was not Prince Charles's son. They never got tired of that 'joke', for some reason."
Harry goes on to ponder whether it was to help paint him as a "laughing stock".
Diana had a five-year affair with Major James Hewitt in the 80s (ExpressStar)
There are rumours Diana had a child with Hewitt (WireImage)He says it didn't seem to matter that Diana hadn't even met Major Hewitt "until long after I was born".
Harry also claims some journalists went so far as to begin "hunting my DNA to verify it" and his initial response was that after "torturing" his mum into hiding "soon they would come for me".
He writes that over the years, rehashed versions of the story seem to be published "with some seriousness" and any accounts of Charles having to reassure him Major Hewitt was not his dad are "invented".
Harry says he and William had a physical fight over Meghan (Martin Meissner/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Another claim that Harry makes in the tell-all book is that Charles once jokingly questioned whether he was the Duke's father.
Harry claims that the joke was made "in poor taste" due to the rumours that were circulating about Major Hewitt.
Other bombshells from the new book include Harry's account of an alleged physical attack on him by brother William during a row over Meghan.
Meanwhile, Harry reportedly dedicates his memoir to his wife, children and late mother - but makes no mention of his father or his brother.
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Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace have declined to comment on the leaked claims from Harry’s book.