Prince Harry claims he was 'nearly killed' in police car with glamour model

Prince Harry has claimed he was "nearly killed" while in an unmarked police car with a glamour model.

The Duke of Sussex's controversial memoir, Spare, officially went on sale in the UK on Tuesday.

Harry has used his book to criticise senior royals, including his brother, William, Prince of Wales, and his stepmother, Camilla, the Queen Consort.

But much of his anger in his autobiography is directed towards the British press, who he sees as costing him several relationships.

In a television interview with ITV's Tom Bradby, broadcast on Sunday to coincide with the launch of the book, Harry accused "certain members of my family" of "getting into bed with the devil", referring to the press, to rehabilitate their image.

Watch: Harry accuses royals of 'getting into bed with the devil'

He said those family members and their aides had been complicit in the conflict he said was created by the British media.

In his book, Harry describes an incident in which he had returned to London from a nine-week trip to Australia at the end of 2003 and went out clubbing.

He said he met a glamour model and she accompanied him into an unmarked police car after they left the nightclub, only for another car containing a press photographer to almost crash into them.

Harry wrote: "One night I met a girl, chatted with her over drinks. I didn’t know she was a page three girl.

Read more: Harry describes 'heartbreaking' moment William used 'secret code' about Diana

"I wouldn’t have cared if I’d known. She seemed smart and fun. I left the club wearing a baseball cap. Paps everywhere. I tried to blend into the crowd, walked casually down the road with my bodyguard. We went through St James’s Square and got into an unmarked police car.

"Just as we pulled away, a Mercedes with blacked-out windows jumped the pavement and swiped our car, nearly slamming head-on into the rear passenger door. We could see it coming, the driver not looking ahead, too busy trying to shoot photos.

"The story in the papers the next morning should’ve been about Prince Harry nearly being killed by a reckless pap. Instead it was about Prince Harry meeting and supposedly kissing a page three girl, along with much frantic commentary about the horrors of the Spare dating... such a fallen woman. The snobbery, the classism, was nauseating."

Read more: Prince Harry opens up about tragic death of best friend

Harry has used his book to criticise the tabloid press for ruining his past relationships, including one with TV presenter Caroline Flack, who took her own life at the age of 40 in 2020.

He wrote that he didn't know who Flack was when he first met her at a restaurant with friends, and said she was "funny and loving", but that the couple decided to end the relationship because of press intrusion.

He wrote in his book: "Within hours a mob was camped outside Flack's parents' house, and all her friends' houses, and her grandparents' house.

"The relationship was tainted, irredeemably, and in time we agreed that it just wasn't worth the grief and harassment. Especially for her family."

But Flack's former manager, Alex Mullen, criticised Harry for writing about the TV presenter, saying it was "disgusting" and "grotesque" for Harry to bring up details of his past relationship with her.

As well as repeatedly criticising press intrusion, Harry also singles out specific criticises media tycoon Rupert Murdoch for his outlets' coverage of the royals.

He writes: "I began to think Murdoch was evil. No, strike that. I began to know that he was. First-hand.

"Once you’ve been chased by someone’s henchmen through the streets of a busy modern city you lose all doubt about where they stand on the Great Moral Continuum.

"Of course I didn’t care for Murdoch’s politics, which were just to the right of the Taliban’s."

Watch: Harry's book Spare goes on sale in London