PRINCE Harry has to own what he wrote about the 25 Taliban he claims he killed in Afghanistan.
The consequences of his words — and frankly nobody has a clue what the ultimate consequences will be — can’t be the fault of someone else.
Not this time.
“My words are not dangerous,” Harry pompously sniffed.
“But the spin of my words are very dangerous to my family.”
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Truly unbelievable.
Whatever Harry now bleats to his American bootlickers, his story about 25 dead Taliban has emphatically NOT been invented by the wicked British media.
This CAN’T be someone else’s fault, Harry.
From Oprah on down, the fawning sycophants who sit down for those cosy and unquestioning chats with Harry invariably let him get away with anything.
The world watched Harry and Meghan tell Oprah about racism among the royals.
They even collected an award for their brave stand!
Now Harry insists they never accused the royals of racism.
This duke is deluded. He styles himself a climate change warrior but takes endless private planes.
He calls himself a feminist while, in Spare’s most disgusting passage, recalls mocking a “mousy” disabled matron at school.
He never apologises for anything. But Harry must take responsibility for what he said about killing 25 Taliban.
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This cannot be fudged or ducked.
The British Press DID NOT invent Harry’s wildly reckless talk. The British Press did not need to.
This pampered, privileged prince has been surrounded by security for all of his pampered, privileged life.
Even when he was a half-cut Hooray Henry falling out of Mahiki there were some highly trained security guards by his side. The rest of us are not nearly so protected.
And halfwit Harry has now put us all in greater danger than we were before.
So own your baloney, Harry. I suggest two things.
Your publisher removes these provocative claims from future editions of Spare.
There is simply no excuse for these inflammatory words appearing in the paperback.
And you apologise.
For once in your endlessly cosseted life, have the honesty to admit that you got something badly wrong.
It is the least you can do.
Harry claims that he did not boast about killing Taliban and he only wrote about his experiences to prevent veterans committing suicide.
But that’s not what he says in the book.
“So, my number: Twenty-five. It wasn’t a number that gave me any satisfaction. But neither was it a number that made me feel ashamed . . . I didn’t think of those 25 as people. They were chess pieces removed from the board.”
Where is the suggestion that making these lurid claims helps veterans?
Your Honour, it is simply not there.
So have the guts to own what is printed in your name, Harry.
And have the decency to either defend it — or apologise for making a ghastly mistake.
Don’t blame everything on the British Press.
I know something of the ghost-written celebrity memoir because I once wrote one with George Michael.
The way it worked with George and I is how it would have worked with Harry and his ghost writer, Pulitzer prize-winner J R Moehringer.
The subject gives multiple interviews and then the writer goes away with all the tapes and bangs out the book. The celebrity is then presented with the finished manuscript and he reads his own book for comments and changes.
Truly, Harry does not seem to know what he actually said about killing 25 Taliban in Spare.
We know he didn’t literally sit down and write Spare. That’s not the way ghost-written autobiographies work.
But you have to wonder, has Harry even read it?
Ana the Golden wonder for Col
COLIN FARRELL is touchingly brilliant in The Banshees Of Inisherin and Ana de Armas is the greatest James Bond girl.
So when Farrell picked up a Best Actor award at the Golden Globes, it felt so right that he used the opportunity to try to pick up Ana, who announced his award.
Colin turned his back on the audience and gushed to Ana about her turn as Marilyn Monroe in the Netflix biopic Blonde.
“Ana, I just thought you were extraordinary,” sighed Colin.
“I cried myself to sleep the night I saw your film.”
Ana blushed and smiled adorably.
And it all felt thoroughly deserved.
Eddie stamp rock
IRON Maiden this week became only the fifth British group ever to get their own Royal Mail stamp designs, after The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Queen.
Iron Maiden?
Lovers of classic rock are raising a wry eyebrow.
For even the most swivel-eyed heavy metal headbanger would surely not claim that Iron Maiden are in the quite same league as The Beatles, Stones, Floyd or Queen.
Before we honour Iron Maiden, surely there should be Led Zeppelin stamps with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant in their pomp.
Or what about The Who, The Kinks, The Jam, The Clash, The Smiths or The Stone Roses?
I must admit that Iron Maiden’s mascot – Eddie the zombie redcoat – does look rather magnificent on the new set of stamps.
And you know you’re getting old when they are putting Iron Maiden on a set of First Class stamps.
Genius was a grump
JEFF BECK, who has died at the age of 78, was a grumpy old guitar genius who spent a lifetime turning his back on fame and fortune.
As lead guitarist for The Yardbirds, Beck could have transformed that gig into super-stardom, like Eric Clapton, who had the job before him, and Jimmy Page, who came after.
And the Jeff Beck Group – featuring a young Rod Stewart on vocals – could have been one of the classic British bands. But Jeff allowed the group that bore his name to fizzle out in 1972.
Beck’s one unlikely hit single was 1967’s Hi-Ho Silver Lining – a happy clappy pop song comically out of character.
Jeff would have preferred to be a no-hit wonder.
Trio fit the bill
TWO is company but three is a “throuple” – the modern relationship that finds room in the bed for three.
Apparently the throuple works wonders for cutting down on your energy bills.
The most famous throuple are said to be ex-boxer David Haye, Saturdays singer Una Healy and model Sian Osborne.
And David Haye certainly doesn’t look very worried about his energy bills.
Prove Brexit worth
FEAR of a Labour government decided the last General Election.
Fear that Comrade Corbyn would be having Hamas and Hezbollah round for afternoon tea at No 10.
Fear will not swing it next time.
Some Tories are clutching their pearls because Sadiq Khan, London’s Labour Mayor, is said to have “let the cat out of the bag” about Labour’s secret Brexit plans by calling for a “pragmatic debate” about rejoining the single market.
But a fear of Brexit being reversed will not win the Tories the next general eection. They have to demonstrate that Brexit was worth all the agony. They have not done it yet.
There is only one GOAT
EVER since the World Cup, the acronym GOAT – which stands for greatest of all time – has been bandied around.
But lest we forget, GOAT was first used about Muhammad Ali in the early 1990s.
We can chat about the various achievements of Messi, Ronaldo and Pele.
But there is only one GOAT.
Because there was only ever one Muhammad Ali.