Harry was officially classed as William’s best man at his wedding to Kate in 2011, but in an astonishing declaration he claimed it was all for show as he was demoted to act as a mere compere

Prince Harry told how he was forced to go along with the “bare-faced lie” that he was his brother William ’s best man, insisting: “Willy didn’t want me giving a best man’s speech”.

Revealing how his bitter rift with the heir to the throne hardened more than a decade ago, the Duke of Sussex said he was made to act out the role in order to spare interest into the lives of William’s two closest friends. Harry was officially classed as William’s best man at his wedding to Kate in 2011 and even travelled with the future King to Westminster Abbey in a Bentley.

But in an astonishing declaration he claimed it was all for show and his brother’s close friends James Meade and Thomas Van Straubenzee actually gave the traditional speech at the reception. Instead, Harry was demoted to act as a mere compere and introduce them. The revelation poses questions as to devastating length and breakdown to their once inseparable bond, described in searing and brutal detail in his new explosive memoir.

Released this week by mistake ahead of its official global launch next Tuesday, booksellers in Spain gave the world its first glimpse at ‘Spare’. A reference to the phrase “heir and a spare” uttered by his father King Charles to his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, when he was born, it has already become a global bestseller and sent shockwaves around the royal family.

Harry’s brutal takedowns of members of his family including his father, “wicked stepmother” Camilla and sister-in-law Kate and once beloved brother William have sent shockwaves through the royal family. The Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace households have refused to engage in a “tit-for-tat” battle of words with Harry with one insider claiming the royals were “beyond weary” of the Duke’s attacks.

In further petty claims Harry told how Prince William was tipsy on rum hours before his wedding to Kate in 2011. The Duke says his older brother went down to greet people camping out on the Mall by Buckingham Palace, ahead of the ceremony while intoxicated, having been drinking to calm his nerves.

Harry said to him: “You smell of alcohol” and offered him some mint sweets as he lowered the windows of the car, describing the smell of “the aftermath of last night’s rum” on his “tipsy” brother’s breath. Bitter and acrimonious allegations spill from the 557 pages seen in full for the first time on Thursday as The Mirror got hold of a copy from a bookshop in southern Spain.