Prince Harry has opened up about a challenging family incident, alleging that “lies” were published about him which infuriated his brother, Prince William, even more than him.

The Duke of Sussex shared the poignant moment when his elder brother stood by him during a tough period that left him emotionally distressed and in need of his sibling’s support. He recalled how a seven-page newspaper article accusing him of substance abuse had left him devastated.

In his memoir ‘Spare’, Harry narrates an incident from January 2002 when he was prominently featured on the front page under the headline ‘Harry’s Drugs Shame’. He strongly refuted the article as “lies”, stating that it not only depicted him as a regular drug user but also falsely alleged that he had recently been to rehab.

He wrote, “not only had me down as a habitual drug user, it had me recently going to rehab. Rehab!”

Harry alleged that an editor “had got her mitts on some photos of Marko and me paying a visit to a suburban rehab centre, months earlier,” and he described the visit as being “a typical part of my princely charitable work,” which the journalist had manipulated and “repurposed the photos, made them visual aids for her libellous fiction.”

However, the Mirror reports that Harry alleges the journalist manipulated these images to bolster her concocted tale. The Prince vividly remembers his reaction as he “gazed” at the photos and read the story “in shock”.

He confessed: “I felt sickened, horrified, I imagined everyone, all my countrymen and countrywomen, reading these things, believing them.”

Harry expressed his discomfort at the thought of the entire Commonwealth gossiping about him. He also hinted at the possible involvement of his father, Charles, and future stepmother, Camilla, in propagating these rumours, leaving him “heartbroken at the idea that this had been partly the work of my own family, my own father and future stepmother.”

He speculated on their potential complicity, questioning if they had “abetted this nonsense. For what? To make their own lives a bit easier?” Harry then revealed how he reached out to his brother William, who was too shocked to speak. Harry recalled: “I phoned Willy, I couldn’t speak. He couldn’t either. He was sympathetic, and more.”

Harry further detailed the conversation, stating: “At moments he was even angrier about the whole thing than I was, because he was privy to more details about the spin doctor and the backroom dealings that had led to this public sacrifice of the Spare.”

However, Harry admitted that William minimised his anguish, quoting him as saying: “And yet, in the same breath, he assured me that there was nothing to be done. This was Pa. This was Camilla. This was royal life.”

The relationship between the two brothers has reportedly worsened, with rumours indicating they haven’t communicated for several months.