Harry Says Prince William And Kate Middleton Chose Infamous Nazi Uniform He Wore In 2005

In a new extract from a leaked portion of Prince Harry's Spare memoir, he details how his brother Prince William and his wife, Princess Kate Middleton, told him to wear the controversial Nazi uniform back in 2005. Harry stated that the couple laughed when they saw him in the costume, which was the subject of extensive controversy.

The Duke of Sussex wore the uniform to a birthday party Olympics star Richard Meade had thrown for his son Harry. The theme was "native and colonial," and Harry wore the desert uniform of a Nazi general, also wearing an army jacket with a German armband. Shortly after, the British royal issued an apology, saying the clothing was a poor choice of costume.

He subsequently addressed the incident in a recent Netflix series with his wife, Meghan Markle, saying it's one of the biggest mistakes of his life. Harry said he met with the Chief Rabbi of London and a Holocaust survivor in Berlin to learn from his mistakes. 

Read on to find out more.

In a new extract from a leaked copy of Spare, Harry revealed that Prince Harry and his wife Princess Kate chose the controversial Nazi uniform for him because they thought it was hilarious. The British royal claims his options were the uniform or a pilot's outfit, which was why he asked for his brother's opinion.

According to Page Six, Harry wrote, "I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said. They both howled. Worse than Willy's leotard outfit! Way more ridiculous! Which, again, was the point." At the time, the Prince was just 20 years old, and the outfit choice caused a huge controversy when photos broke on the front page of The Sun newspaper.

Prince Harry wore the controversial costume to a birthday party Olympic show jumper Richard Meade threw for his son Harry. The party's theme was "native and colonial," and the Prince's costume was the desert uniform of a Nazi General, Erwin Rommel. He also wore an army jacket with a German flag design on the armband.

The Duke arrived at the party with Prince William, who wore a skintight black leotard with matching paws and a tail. One party guest spoke to the Daily Mail about Harry's costume choice, saying, "If this was his idea of a joke then it went down like a lead balloon." The Prince was also heavily criticized on social media for days after the incident.

Shortly after the photos of the costume went viral, Prince Harry issued an apology statement, saying that it was a poor costume choice. He wrote per Daily Mail, "I am very sorry if I have caused any offense or embarrassment to anyone. It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize."

The Duke subsequently addressed the incident in a new Netflix series with his wife, Meghan. He called the costume choice one of his "biggest mistakes" in life and expressed remorse for making the decision. Harry also said all he wanted to do "was make it right."

The Prince said he met with the Late Jonathan Sacks in London, who was the Chief Rabbi at the time of the controversy. He also flew to Berlin to speak with a Holocaust survivor as part of his efforts to fix his mistakes. He said the incident made him feel so ashamed, and his conversation with Sacks had a "profound impact" on him.

According to Penguin Random House, Harry's upcoming memoir Spare tells the story of his life with a "raw and unflinching honesty." Arrangements for the highly-anticipated memoir are being guarded and managed tightly, with very few senior executives aware of the actual release details.

Deliveries of the memoir to bookshops are taking off at the last minute to avoid any leaks, and there are guarded sites around the world securing copies before distribution. Per Daily Mail, The security operation is similar to the 2007 release of JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which featured satellite tracking systems, an army of guards, and NDA contracts.

With the Spare leaks already happening, one could say the security measures taken weren't enough.