Prince Harry claimed his brother was “jealous” of an unusual feature that the Duke of Sussex sported.

Writing in his memoir Spare, Harry claimed Prince William told him that his bear was “not appropriate” and encouraged him to shave.

Harry explained: “A beard was thought by some to be a clear violation of protocol and long-standing norms, especially since I was getting married in my Army uniform. Beards were forbidden in the British Army.”

Harry claims he was driven to ask permission from the late Queen in person to keep the beard, claiming it made him feel more calm.

“Yes, she said, you may keep your beard,” writes Harry. “But then I explained it to my brother and he… bristled?

“Not the done thing, he said. Military rules, so forth.”

Harry said he then gave his brother a “quick history lesson” in ancestors who were able to keep their beards, sharing pictures of Edward VII and George V.

Harry claimed William “became livid” when he learned he had been granted permission by their grandmother to keep the facial hair.

Harry said his brother told him: “You put her in an uncomfortable position, Harold! She had no choice but to say yes.”

Harry added that William “wouldn’t let it go” and that the argument continued “in person, on the phone, for more than a week”.

Apparently William ordered Harry to shave his beard off, with the Duke of Sussex asking “why on earth it mattered”.

“Because I wasn’t allowed to keep my beard”, William reportedly replied.

Harry concludes: “Ah, there it was. After he’d come back from an assignment with Special Forces, Willy was sporting a full beard, and someone told him to be a good boy, run along and shave it.

“He hated the idea of me enjoying a perk he’d been denied.”

William has never responded to the claims or given his side of the story.