New Zealanders question Harry's 'bizarre' claim over first class flight that never existed

Prince Harry's memoir, Spare, has made headlines around the world with a series of sensational claims about the Royal Family, including that his brother physically attacked him and that Camilla briefed newspapers about him to rehabilitate her own image.

In interviews promoting the book, Harry says claims the press has lied about him for many years and he has written the book to ensure the "truth will come from my lips rather than using other people".

He has also wrote in Spare that "there’s just as much truth in what I remember and how I remember it as there is in so-called objective facts".

This stance might be why his claims have been subject to intense scrutiny – and, as a result, the details of one incident about his father-in-law have been questioned over their accuracy by an airline in New Zealand.

It revolves around the period of time when Thomas Markle — Meghan's now estranged father — was coming under heavy press scrutiny in his Mexican home.

Harry describes in his book that he and Meghan sorted out a "first class" journey to the UK for him on an Air New Zealand flight.

Harry wrote that the incident occurred in the run-up to the couple's wedding in 2018, when Mr Markle was accused of staging paparazzi pictures.

He claims Meghan impressed upon her father that the accusations were "serious" because if they told the publications the story was false and Mr Markle had in fact participated in the photos, they would lose credibility and it would be impossible to kill any future stories.

He writes: "Meg said: We might be able to kill this story, Daddy, but if it turns out you're lying, we'll never be able to kill a false story about ourselves, or our children, again. So this is serious. You must tell us the truth."

Harry continues that Mr Markle "swore" he wasn't involved in setting up the pictures.

Because Meghan believed her father, Harry writes that she booked him a "first class" ticket to the UK from Mexico on an Air New Zealand flight."

"In that case, we told him, leave Mexico right now", Harry writes in Spare. "A whole new level of harassment is about to rain down on you, so come to Britain. Now. We’ll arrange for an apartment where you can hole up safely until your flight. Air New Zealand, first class, booked and paid for by Meg."

Harry claims Mr Markle refused the couple's offer as he "had things to do".

However, the New Zealand Herald has since reported that no such flight exists, as Air New Zealand doesn't operate flights on that route and doesn't have a first class option, only a business class section is available for their customers.

The Herald said: "Air NZ responded to questions about these claims from the Herald by pointing out it only provides Business Premier fares, rather than first-class as the book claimed."

Another claim made in Spare is that Harry was at Eton when he was called by a courtier and told that his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother, had died in 2002.

Robert Jobson — royal editor for the Evening Standard — has alleged that Harry is mistaken on this point, and Harry actually found out whilst on a skiing holiday in Klosters, Switzerland, when she died on 30 March that year.

"Harry recalls in graphic detail learning of the Queen Mother's death at Eton in 2002. He wasn’t there. He was in Klosters, Switzerland skiing with his dad and brother at the time", Jobson tweeted, "I know because I was there at the time. Factual errors in your own memoir make you doubt 'his truth'."

One more significant claim of inaccuracy made against Harry revolves around his allegation that Camilla disclosed private conversations she had with William to the newspapers.

Some royal sources have rejected this, saying her private secretary at the time was responsible for accidentally sharing information that was subsequently repeated in front of a journalist who shared the story with the Sun newspaper. The aide responsible for repeating the information then resigned.

Despite this, Harry indicates that Camilla repeatedly leaked stories about him and William.

Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace have not commented on the contents of the book.

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