Prince William ignores questions from reporters about Prince Harry’s memoir during first public outing

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Kelly Rissman

US News Reporter

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Prince William ignored questions about brother Prince Harry’s book during his and Kate Middleton’s first public outing since the release of the tell-all memoir.

On Thursday, the Prince and Princess of Wales made their first public appearance following the release of the Duke of Sussex’s memoirSpare on 10 January. They travelled to Merseyside, where they visited the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and the Open Door charity.

During the outing, Prince William was faced with multiple questions from reporters about his brother’s memoir, including whether he has read the book and if he was “hurt” by Harry’s claims.

“Were you hurt by the comments in Harry’s book, sir?” one reporter asked the royal as he and Kate Middleton made their way into the hospital, according to a video shared by the DailyMail’s royal editor Rebecca English.

English noted that William may have missed the reporter’s question due to high winds. The video included muffled audio of the moment.

“One member of the media shouted out ‘were you hurt by the comments in Harry’s book, Sir’. So windy today, I doubt they even heard it,” she wrote.

Although the royal may not have heard the first question, a video shared by Sky News royal reporter Inzamam Rashid shows William ignoring another question about Prince Harry’s memoir during the outing.

In the video, a reporter asked: “Your Royal Highness, have you had a chance to read your brother’s book at all? Have you had a chance to read your brother’s book at all, Your Royal Highness?”

“No answer from Prince William as to whether he’s read his brother’s book or not…” Rashid wrote on Twitter alongside the clip.

William’s silence in response to the questions is not surprising. Both Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace have not commented on the contents of the duke’s book.

On Thursday, Harry’s father King Charles III also made his first appearance in public since the release of the memoir.

The memoir notably makes a number of explosive claims about the royal family, including the allegation that Harry and his older brother got into a physical altercation over Meghan Markle in 2019.

“It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor,” Harry wrote in the memoir.

Harry’s memoir has since become the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever. The book’s publisher Penguin Random House announced it sold more than 1.4 million copies on its release day.

The Independent has contacted a spokesperson for the Prince and Princess of Wales for comment.