Don Lemon has branded Prince Harry a ‘gauche’ for choosing to publicize claims his brother Prince William physically assaulted him in his bombshell book ‘Spare’ – saying ‘It just isn’t done’.
The CNN host searched for a word to describe Harry’s stride before finally describing it as “gauche” – meaning it lacks grace or refinement.
“Everyone has a family,” Lemon said, before rhetorically asking, “I have fights with my family. Am I going to post this for the whole world to see?’
His criticism came on CNN This Morning during a discussion of a Guardian report on leaks from Harry’s forthcoming book detailing his claims of a confrontation.
Harry accused the current Prince of Wales of grabbing him by the collar and throwing him to the ground, causing him to fall onto a plastic dog bowl which he said broke into pieces, injuring his back.
Don Lemon criticized Harry for publishing allegations of physical assault on William in his new book, Spare
“I just don’t get why on earth would he want to put that out there? I know he’s selling a book, but to me it’s just… what’s the word I’m looking for? It’s just not done,” Lemon said.
“What exactly does he accomplish by airing the family’s dirty laundry?” he said at the end of the segment.
Prince Harry says the incident happened in 2019 when William was visiting him at his home in London.
The fight reportedly broke out in the kitchen of Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace just before he and Meghan left for North America.
William is said to have branded Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive” and insisted he was trying to help his younger brother during a meeting about “the whole rolling disaster” of their failed relationship and Harry’s run-ins with the press.
Harry accused his brother of parroting “the press narrative” about his American wife before an argument ensued that ended in a physical altercation, the book says.
In an excerpt from his forthcoming autobiography, Spare, Harry recalls being physically attacked by his sibling, now the Prince of Wales, which left him with visible injuries
The kitchen of Nottingham Cottage where Harry claims his brother grabbed his collar and threw him to the ground, smashing a dog bowl
Harry says in the book he gave William a glass of water and said, “Willy, I can’t talk to you when you’re like that.”
Describing what he thought happened next, Harry insisted he was scared, Harry said: “He turned off the water, called me another name and then approached me. Everything happened so fast. So very quickly.
“He grabbed my collar, tore my necklace and threw me to the ground. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which broke under my back and the pieces cut into me. I lay there dazed for a moment, then got up and told him to go away.
Lemon’s reaction to the leaked segment in the book on CNN this morning is the latest in a series of developments that have seen the US media start to turn against Harry and Meghan.
Much of this change was prompted by the release of the couple’s Netflix documentary last month.
NBC’s Daisy McAndrew said the couple made no effort to apologize for their role in the breakdown of Harry’s relationship with his family, while CNN’s Max Foster pointed out how one-sided the documentary was.
Fox News columnist Lee Cohen said they were on track to become the “most hated royals” of all time and suggested that not even Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor’s Nazi ties were telling the public like that would have disappointed.
The Associated Press, widely respected for its journalistic impartiality, summed up the finale with the headline: “Harry, Meghan vents her grievances in recent Netflix episodes.”
NBC reporter Daisy McAndrew said the couple “takes no responsibility” for their role in the rift with the royal family and said there was “no going back” from the Netflix series
CNN’s Royal correspondent Max Foster said the Palace must now respond to the “very serious” allegations made by Harry and Meghan in the new episodes
The Associated Press summed up the finale with this headline: “Harry, Meghan vents her grievances in recent Netflix episodes”
Elsewhere in the upcoming book Spare, a Spanish version of which was accidentally sold in Spain, Harry refers to his brother as his “nemesis”.
Harry also uses parts of the book to talk about his military service and time in Afghanistan in 2007, 2008 and 2012. Specifically, he said he killed 25 Taliban fighters during his second tour.
Harry, who flew an Apache attack helicopter during his second tour, said it was “not a fact that made me happy, but I wasn’t ashamed either.”
This is the first time Harry has given the number of insurgents he personally killed during his time in Afghanistan.