09 January 2024 , 11:03
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Prince Harry stood by his brother's side when Prince William married Kate Middleton in April 2011. But the idea that he was best man on the day was a 'bare-faced lie' according to Harry, who further revealed there was one key role he was banned from doing at the wedding reception.
Harry wrote in detail about William and Kate's nuptials at Westminster Abbey in his memoir, Spare, and claimed: "The public had been told that I was to be best man, but that was a bare-faced lie."
Explaining why he was also reportedly barred from doing a best man speech, the Duke continued: "The public expected me to be the best man, and thus, the palace saw no choice but to say that I was. In truth, Willy didn't want me giving a best man speech. He didn't think it safe to hand me a live mic and put me in a position to go off script. I might say something wildly inappropriate. He wasn't wrong."
Harry further stated that the palace decided to say he was the best man to protect the identities of the real best men - James Meade, an Eton pal who delivered the speech, and Thomas van Straubenzee, whom the groom had known since their days at Ludgate Prep.
"The lie gave cover to James and Thomas, two civilians, two innocents," Harry wrote. "Had they been outed as Willy's best men, the rabid press would have chased them, tracked them, hacked them, investigated them, ruined their families' lives. Both chaps were shy, quiet, They couldn't handle such an onslaught and shouldn't be expected to."
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While the wedding was a day of celebration, for Harry it seemed to mark the end of an era. He stated: "The brother I'd escorted into Westminster Abbey that morning was gone - forever. Who could deny it?
"He'd never again be first and foremost Willy. We'd never again ride together across the Lesotho countryside with capes blowing behind us. We'd never again share a horsey-smelling cottage while learning to fly. Who shall separate us? Life, that's who."
Noting that Kate looked "incredible" coming down the aisle, he continued, "I recall Willy walking her back up the aisle, and as they disappeared through the door, into the carriage that would convey them to Buckingham Palace , into the eternal partnership they'd pledged, I recall thinking: Goodbye."
Similarly, Harry said William was not his best man when he married Meghan Markle in 2018. Claiming that William seemed out of sorts the night before, Harry recalls wondering at the time, "Was he feeling bad about not being my best man? Was he upset that I'd asked my old mate Charlie?" (Charlie van Straubanzee, Thomas' younger brother, a friend since Ludgate).