Prince Harry has made a number of startlingly personal revelations in leaked excerpts from his soon-to-be-published memoirs, relating to members of his family including King Charles III, Prince William and Kate Middleton. However, what may surprise readers most are the numerous deeply intimate revelations the prince has made about himself—extending to a brief description of his own anatomy.
While violent fights with Prince William in the kitchens of Kensington Palace and pleas with his father not to marry "wicked stepmother" Queen Camilla may grab headlines, the prince's account of a frostbitten "todger" and his earliest sexual experiences are the lesser expected bombshells to flow from Harry's (ghost-written) pen.
These, particularly the frostbite anecdote and accompanying description, have earned the prince criticism from those who claim he's diluted the monarchy's "magic" to others bemoaning that "everything I've learned about Prince Harry's frostbitten penis I've learned against my will."
Here, Newsweek looks at everything Prince Harry has said about his crown jewels in his bombshell memoir Spare in his own words, so far.
Frostbite and Speculated Circumcisions
In an excerpt from Spare taken from a copy obtained by gossip site Page Six, Prince Harry not only revealed that he had been circumcised but that he had also experienced penile frostbite which caused him great discomfort during the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011.
The revelation followed a discussion of his March 2011 expedition to the North Pole, for which he joined a group of ex-armed forces servicemen who were part of the Walking With The Wounded charity.
As patron of the expedition, Harry joined the group for a four-day stint, taking part in walking and endurance exercises.
The royal revealed he returned home just weeks before William's April 29 wedding day with frostbitten ears, nose, and "todger," for which he sought medical advice.
For many years it was speculated that William and Harry had been circumcised with some royal commentators insisting this was not the case and that Princess Diana hadn't allowed the procedure to take place. This Harry quashed in the memoir telling readers that he had indeed, had the "snip."
In Harry's Own Words:
"There were countless stories in books, and papers (even The New York Times) about [Prince William] and me not being circumcised.
"Mummy had forbidden it, they all said, and while it's absolutely true that the chance of getting penile frostbite is much greater if you're not circumcised, all the stories were false. I was snipped as a baby.
"...Upon arriving home [from the North Pole] I'd been horrified to discover that my nether regions were frost nipped as well...and while the ears and cheeks were already healing, the todger wasn't. It was becoming more of an issue by the day."
Losing Virginity in a Field Was "One Of My Many Errors"
Though not explicitly referencing his crown jewels, another of Harry's deeply personal revelations in Spare centers around losing his virginity at the age of 17 to an older woman.
The prince goes into explicit details not only about his earliest sexual encounter but also his experimental drug use and mental health concerns throughout his teenage years.
He revealed that he considers the loss of his virginity in a public place to a person who treated him like a "young stallion" one of his "many errors," painting a graphic picture as he describes how she "slapped me on the backside and sent me on my way."
In Harry's Own Words:
"I suspected that [the royal bodyguard] was referring to the recent loss of my virginity, a humiliating episode with an older woman who liked horses a lot and treated me like a young stallion.
"I mounted her quickly, after which she spanked me on the backside and sent me on my way. One of my many errors was to do it in a field, just behind a crowded pub."
Spare by Prince Harry is released globally on January 10.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
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