Prince Harry’s ex-instructor in the army has repudiated a narrative in his book, Spare, about a supposed ‘suicide’ exercise in flight as pure fabrication.
Prince Harry’s Ex-Army Officer Debunks His ‘Aborted Suicide Attempt’ Claims
The memoir contains an episode about a plane trip in which Sergeant Major Michael Booley allegedly paused the Slingsby T67 Firefly aircraft he was controlling without any notification, making the Prince speculate if it was an ‘aborted suicide mission’.
However, the previous Sergeant Major has dismissed this as a figment of the imagination, asserting that learners are always informed of all elements of flight training preparation in advance.
In his book, Harry had written: “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.”
Ex-Sergeant-Major Booley, 57, who was in the military for 33 years, ranks Harry as being in his top five students. Booley also pinpoints the writer John Joseph Moehringer for the wrong details, saying the stories have been exaggerated.
He further specified that he never called the prince “Lt Wales”. Despite this being the case, Booley still regards the prince as a “friend”. But that did not stop him from putting Harry in his place.
His following comments confirmed as much: “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.
“Engine failures are practised before the first solo obviously, in case the student suffers one.” The response on social media was damning. Large numbers of people began to question if Harry’s book had any credible claims.
One person wrote: “So is any of this book true to life? Every aspect is being challenged & proven to be porkies.” So there you have it folks. What did you think about this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
