Prince Harry has previously admitted the role he took on during the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was a “bare-faced lie”.
The Duke of Sussex, 40, acted as Best Man on the big day, standing next to his elder brother as Prince William prepared to make his vows to his bride.
But while Prince Harry featured prominently in the April 2011 ceremony at Westminster Abbey, he later claimed in 2023 that he wasn’t the real attendant to the groom. And he also suggested he was put in the position in order to prevent scrutiny into the lives of William’s friends.
How Prince Harry felt about his brother’s wedding
Prince Harry – who had William as his own Best Man when he got wed in May 2018 – made the bombshell claim in his 2023 memoir Spare.
Harry also revealed how he felt about the wedding, saying: “I loved my new sister-in-law, I felt she was more sister than in-law. But in my gut, I couldn’t help feeling that this was yet another farewell under this horrid roof. Another sundering.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Harry went on to discuss the best man role at William’s wedding.
He wrote: “The public had been told that I was to be Best Man, but that was a bare-faced lie.”
The public had been told that I was to be Best Man, but that was a bare-faced lie.
Prince William’s only sibling also suggested he wasn’t the first pick to make a speech at the reception.
He continued: “The public expected me to be the Best Man. And thus, the palace saw no choice but to say that I was.”
Prince William ‘didn’t want Harry making a speech’
Prince Harry went on: “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.”
Prince Harry also alleged that the palace decided to say he was Best Man to protect the identities of James Meade and Thomas van Straubenzee.
He also indicated William’s pals stood up to speak on behalf of the groom instead.
Who was William’s best man on his wedding day?
Prince Harry claimed: “Also, the lie gave cover to James and Thomas, two civilians, two innocents. 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.”
Despite this arrangements, Prince Harry was not put out.
He noted: “Willy explained all this to me, and I didn’t blink. I understood. We even had a laugh about it, speculating about the inappropriate things I might’ve said in my speech.”
Nonetheless, Prince Harry also said he did share a few improvised words at the reception, which took place at Buckingham Palace.
He also reflected on the ceremony itself: “I recall Kate walking down the aisle, looking incredible. And 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.”
