Prince Harry's army instructor 'in shock' after reading 'fantasy' claim in Spare

22.01.2023 - 17:15 / dailyrecord.co.uk

One of the shocking claims in Prince Harry's memoir has been dismissed as "complete fantasy" by a first-hand witness.

In Spare, the prince details a "suicide" training flight, saying that an army instructor stalled their Slingsby T67 Firefly propeller plane on purpose without alerting anyone to what was happening.

But Major Michael Booley, who is an ex-Sergeant and who was there at the time of the supposed incident, says this didn't happen - and that every detail of these flights is laid out beforehand.

He told the Sunday Mirror: "I am staggered by this. In shock even," instead providing a clearer explanation that may prove Harry's account to be false.

The Mirror reports that in Spare, Harry writes: "On one of our first flights together, with no warning, Booley threw the aircraft into a stall.

"I felt the left wing dip, a sickening feeling of disorder, of entropy, and then, after several seconds that felt like decades, he recovered the aircraft and levelled the wings.

"I stared at him. What in the absolute—? Was this an aborted suicide attempt?’ No, he said gently. This was the next stage in my training."

Michael has hit back at this claim, saying: "Whilst the book compliments me, the recollection of the sorties and lessons is inaccurate, I’m afraid. It’s important to highlight that nothing in the cockpit comes as a surprise.

"Every sortie is thoroughly briefed beforehand, every single aspect.

"The sortie is flown exactly as per that brief. The only time there are surprises is later in the syllabus, not as stated in the book, when emergencies are introduced.

"Engine failures are practised before the first solo obviously, in case the student suffers one."

The 57-year-old served in the army for 33 years, and taught Harry how to pilot