'Only in Times of Extreme Crisis': Prince Harry and Prince William Have a 'Secret' Code They Use in Dire Circumstances

In the full year since the release of Prince Harry's infamous memoir, Spare, one constant that has remained strong is the "bitter" and "endless" feud between the fiery-haired royal and Prince William. One passage, in particular, from the tome that analysts say likely "enraged" the Prince of Wales is when Harry recounts an alleged encounter the two had at Prince Philip's April 2021 funeral. The Duke of Sussex claimed that the future king used a "secret" word they "vowed" never to use but only in "extreme circumstances."

That dire situation for William turned out to be about Meghan Markle, and with only five weeks having passed since her and Harry's explosive Oprah Winfrey Interview, "dire" is likely a fitting description.

"'Harold, you must listen to me! I just want you to be happy, Harold. I swear... I swear on Mummy’s life,'" Harry wrote when sharing William's nickname for him and the soon-to-be heir to the throne's swearing on the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Dukes of Sussex and Cambridge, along with Prince Charles, were all walking in Frogmore Gardens following Philip's internment in the Royal Vault. Harry described how William's words immediately stopped himself and Charles, Prince of Wales, in their tracks.

"He’d used the secret code, the universal password. Ever since we were boys, those three words were to be used only in times of extreme crisis. For nearly twenty-five years we’d reserved that soul-crushing vow for times when one of us needed to be heard, to be believed, quickly. For times when nothing else would do," the Montecito prince added.

Harry continued: "I simply didn’t believe him; [I] didn’t fully trust him. And vice versa. He saw it to. He saw that we were in a place of such hurt and doubt that even those sacred words couldn’t set us free."

In addition to numerous one-sided accounts, such as this one, the autobiography also included a controversial description of an alleged encounter between the brothers in 2019. Harry wrote about how William physically assaulted him during a heated argument about Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

He also turned his attention to the scandalous moment in early 2005 when he was photographed wearing a Nazi uniform at a costume party. The father-of-two claims that his brother and a pre-royal Kate Middleton encouraged him to wear it and later laughed when the world's media ran stories about his choice of attire. The moment was later recreated in the final season of Netflix's The Crown.

"I don't want to tell anyone what to think of it, and that includes my family. This book and its truths are in many ways a continuation of my own mental health journey. It's a raw account of my life — the good, the bad, and everything in between," the fifth in line to the throne told a publication when promoting the book last year.

People reported on the anniversary of Spare.